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Vol.  XVI  JANUARY,  1917  No.  3 


Tohe 

NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 


'Carolina!  Carolina !  Heaven's  blessings  attend  her ! 
While  zve  live  zve  will  cherish,  protect  and  defend  her' 


Published  by 

THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 

DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


The  object  of  The  Booklet  is  to  aid  in  developing  and  preserving 
North  Carolina  History.  The  proceeds  arising  from  its  publication 
will  be  devoted  to  patriotic  purposes.  Editor. 


RALEIGH 

commercial  printing  company 
printers  and  binders 


ADVISORY  BOARD  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood.  Dr.  Richard  Dillard. 

Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt.  Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle. 

Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor.  Mr.  James  Sprunt. 

Dr.  D.  H.  Hill.  Mr.  Marshall  DeLancey  Haywood 

Dr.  William  K.  Boyd.  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 

Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe.  Major  W.  A.  Graham. 

Miss  Adelaide  L.  Fries.  Dr.  Charles  Lee  Smith. 

Miss  Martha  Helen  Haywood. 

editor : 
Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton. 

biographical  editor  : 
Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 
DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

1914-1916 

REGENT  : 

Miss  MARY  HILLIARD  HINTON. 

VICE-REGENT  : 

Mrs.  MARSHALL  WILLIAMS. 

honorary  regents : 
Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 
Mrs.   T.  K.  BRUNER. 

RECORDING   SECRETARY  : 

Mrs.  L.  E.  COVINGTON. 

CORRESPONDING     SECRETARY  : 

Mrs.   PAUL   H.   LEE. 

TREASURER : 

Mrs.  CHAS.  LEE  SMITH. 

REGISTRAR  : 

Miss  SARAH  W.  ASHE. 

CUSTODIAN   OF  RELICS  : 

Mrs.  JOHN  E.  RAY. 


CHAPTER  REGENTS 

Bloomsbury  Chapter Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood,  Regent. 

Penelope  Barker  Chapter Mrs.  Patrick  Matthew,  Regent. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  Chapter Mrs.  I.  M.  Meekins,  Regent. 

General  Francis  Nash  Chapter Miss  Rebecca  Cameron,  Regent. 

Roanoke  Chapter Mrs.  F.  M.  Allen,  Regent. 

Mary  Slocumb  Chapter Miss  Georgie  Hicks,   Regent. 

Colonel  Thomas  Robeson  Chapter Mrs.  Annie  Buie,  Regent. 


Founder  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  and  Regent  1896-1902 

Mrs.  SPIER  WHITAKER.* 

Regent  1902: 

Mrs.  D.  H.  HILL,  SR.f 

Regent  1902-1906: 

Mrs.  THOMAS  K.  BRUNER. 

Regent  1906-1910: 

Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 


•Died  November  25, 1911. 
t  Died  December  12, 1904. 


Isaac  Shelby 


MATTHEW    HARRIS  JOUETT 


From  his  most  famous  portrait,  never  before  reproduced,  owned  by 
William  R.  Shelby,  Esq.,  of  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan 


The  North  Carolina  Booklet 

Vol.  XVI  JANUARY,  1917  No.  3 

Isaac  Shelby 
Revolutionary  Patriot  and  Border  Hero 


By  Archibald  Henderson. 


Among  that  group  of  early  pioneers  whose  intrepid  daring 
and  superior  sagacity,  tested  in  the  crucible  of  border  warfare 
and  frontier  conflict,  were  potent  agencies  in  laying  the  foun- 
dation stones  of  the  republic,  Isaac  Shelby  occupies  a  position 
of  conspicuous  leadership  in  both  martial  and  civil  life.  De- 
ficient in  the  vision  of  a  Richard  Henderson  or  the  craft  of  a 
Daniel  Boone,  Shelby  possessed  much  of  the  glorified  common 
sense  which  distinguished  James  Robertson.  Temperamen- 
tally more  phlegmatic  than  his  comrade  in  arms,  the  impetu- 
ous John  Sevier,  he  exhibited  in  the  crucial  moments  of  his 
career  a  headlong  bravery  and  an  unwavering  self-control 
which  marked  him  as  a  trustworthy  leader  of  men.  In  per- 
sonal bravery  the  match  for  his  friend,  George  Rogers  Clark, 
Shelby  was  a  born  fighter ;  and  although  not  endowed  with 
the  tactical  brilliance  of  the  conqueror  of  the  Northwest,  he 
exhibited  such  unerring  judgment  in  battle  and  such  poise  in 
leadership  as  to  inspire  the  confident  faith  which  procures 
ultimate  victory.  His  contribution  to  the  cause  of  American 
independence  is  an  integral  part  of  the  history  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. This  chapter  which  to  this  very  day,  in  any  adequate 
sense,  remains  unwritten,  the  present  monograph  purposes  to 
supply. 

It  was  from  a  line  of  Welsh  ancestors  that  Isaac  Shelby 
derived  the  phlegmatic  temperament  and  cautious  balance 
which  stood  him  in  such  good  stead  throughout  his  eventful 
and  turbulent  career.  His  father,  Evan  Shelby,  was  born  in 
Wales  in  1720 ;  and  with  his  father  and  mother,  Evan  and 
Catherine  Shelby,  he  emigrated  to  Maryland  about  1735.   The 


110  THE  NORTH  CAEOLINA  BOOKLET 

family  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hagerstown,  near  the 
North  Mountain,  then  Frederick  County.  Strength  of  charac- 
ter and  an  iron  constitution,  reinforced  by  the  qualities  of 
tenacity  and  approved  courage,  express  the  dominant  charac- 
teristics of  this  famous  border  character,  Evan  Shelby,  Isaac's 
father.  In  the  French  and  Indian  wars  which  began  in  1754, 
he  served  with  distinction,  first  it  is  presumed,  as  a  private 
soldier;  but  in  1756  his  recognized  skill  as  a  hunter  and 
woodsman,  acquired  in  patrolling  the  border  and  guarding 
the  frontier,  as  well  as  his  bravery,  led  to  his  appointment  as 
Lieutenant  of  Maryland  troops.  It  is  related  that  on  Forbes' 
campaign,  "he  gave  chase  to  an  Indian  spy,  in  view  of  many 
of  the  troops,  overtaking  and  tomahawking  him."1  The  fol- 
lowing letter  is  like  a  ray  of  light  flashed  into  the  dim  ob- 
scurity of  the  mid-period  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  is  a 
letter  of  Governor  Sharpe,  of  Maryland,  to  General  Forbes  :2 

1st  of  August,  1758. 
To  General  Forbes: 

Sir  : — This  serves  to  introduce  to  you  Capt.  Shelby,  who  waits  on 
your  Excellency  with  his  company  of  volunteers  to  receive  your  com- 
mands. He  has  served  as  a  Lieut,  more  than  two  years  in  the  Mary- 
land troops  &  has  always  behaved  well,  which  encourages  me  to  hope 
that  he  and  his  company  will  be  found  useful  on  the  present  occasion. 
The  expense  I  have  been  at  in  furnishing  his  men  with  blankets,  leg- 
gins,  moccasins  &  camp  kettles  is  £82-3-2  pens  currency,  &  as  Capt. 
Shelby  &  his  lieut.,  who  was  likewise  an  officer  in  our  Troops  until 
the  end  of  May  last,  found  themselves  under  some  Difficulties  by  not 
being  paid  the  arrears  that  were  due  them,  I  have  let  each  of  them 
have  £15  out  of  the  £510  currency,  which,  with  Your  Excellency's  ap- 
probation, Mr.  Kilby  is  to  advance  towards  paying  the  Maryland 
Forces.  I  most  sincei'ely  wish  Your  Excellency  the  perfect  Recovery 
of  Your  Health  &  a  successful  Campaign,  &  I  am  &c. 

Serving  as  Captain  of  Maryland  troops,  in  the  provincial 
army  destined  for  the  reduction  of  Fort  Duquesne,  Evan 
Shelby  was  engaged  in  a  number  of  severe  battles  in  the 
course  of  Braddock's  war.  In  1758,  in  pursuance  of  Governor 
Sharpe's  orders,  he  reconnoitred  and  marked  out  the  route 


iDraper's  King's  Mountain  and  Its  Heroes,  411. 
SMaryland  Calendar  State  Papers,  ii,  1757-61,  237. 


ISAAC   SHELBY  111 

of  a  road  to  Fort  Cumberland;  and  following  his  report  to 
the  Governor  that  "three  hundred  and  fifty  men  might  open 
such  a  road  as  he  proposed  in  three  weeks,"  as  it  was  not 
more  than  sixty  miles  in  length,  the  road  was  laid  out  by  him 
with  the  assistance  of  the  desired  quota  of  men,  by  order  of 
Governor  Sharpe.3  As  a  soldier  he  was  conspicuous  for  gal- 
lantry in  the  battle  fought  at  Loyal  Hanning  (now  Bedford), 
Pennsylvania;  and  he  led  the  advance  guard  of  General 
Forbes,  when  he  took  possession  of  Fort  DuQuesne  in  1758. 
Early  in  the  'sixties,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  he  removed 
with  his  family  to  Pennsylvania — perhaps  as  the  result  of  un- 
certainty in  land  titles  in  consequence  of  the  dispute  over 
territory  between  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  For  some 
years  thereafter  he  engaged  in  trade  with  the  Indians  of  the 
Northwest.  During  the  conferences  with  the  Indians,  held  in 
connection  with  the  Treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  lasting  from 
October  24  until  November  6,  1768,  an  extensive  grant  of 
land  was  made  by  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians  to  twenty-three 
Indian  traders,  most  of  them  from  Pennsylvania,  to  recom- 
pense them  for  very  large  losses  incurred  during  the  war  of 
1763.  In  the  list  of  the  twenty-three  names  is  found  that  of 
Evan  Shelby,  along  with  such  other  well  known  names  as 
William  Trent,  David  Franks,  John  Baynton,  Samuel  Whar- 
ton, and  George  Morgan.  This  grant  included  all  that  part 
of  the  present  state  of  West  Virginia  lying  between  the  Ohio, 
the  Little  Kanawha,  and  the  Monongahela  rivers,  the  Laurel 
Ridge,  and  the  South  line  of  Pennsylvania  extended  to  the 
Ohio.  Trent  and  Wharton,  two  of  the  traders,  went  to  Eng- 
land, to  endeavor  to  obtain  a  confirmation  of  the  grant,  which 
was  named  Indiana  by  those  who  wished  to  erect  it  into  a 
colony;  but  while  there  they  were  induced  to  throw  in  their 
interests  with  Thomas  Walpole,  Benjamin  Franklin,  and 
others,  in  securing  the  grant  of  Vandalia,  which  included  the 


3Cf .  Sharpe  to  Capt.  Evan  Shelby,  June  15,  1758 ;  Maryland  Calen- 
dar State  Papers.  Letter  Book  III,  206;  Sharpe  to  Calvert,  Letter 
Book  I,  358-9.  For  Capt.  Evan  Shelby's  report  from  Frederick,  June 
25,  1758,  cf.  also  Maryland  Calendar  State  Papers,  Letter  Book  III, 
212. 


112  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

grants  to  the  Ohio  Company  and  to  William  Trent  and  his 
associates,  and  extended  to  the  mouth  of  Scioto.  Although 
the  draft  of  the  royal  grant  had  actually  been  prepared  in 
the  spring  of  1775,  it  ultimately  failed  of  confirmation  by 
the  Crown.4 
\i  During  the  third  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  ranches, 
or  "cow-pens"  were  established  at  many  places  in  the  Pied- 
mont region  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  South  Caro- 
lina. The  more  adventurous  farmers,  taking  advantage  of 
the  fertile  pastures  of  the  uplands,  pressed  far  beyond  the 
ordinary  farmer's  frontier,  and  herded  in  large  flocks  of  cat- 
tle and  stock.  Many  of  these  were  wandering  wild  upon  the 
country;  as  a  contemporary  observer  says,  "notwithstanding 
every  precaution,  very  great  numbers  of  black  cattle,  horses 
and  hogs — run  at  large,  entirely  wild,  without  any  other  pro- 
prietors than  those  of  the  ground  they  happened  to  be  found 
upon."5  In  1771,  according  to  the  best  authorities,  Isaac 
Shelby,  the  son  of  Evan  Shelby,  was  residing  in  Western  Vir- 
ginia, living  the  life  of  the  rancher,  and  engaged  in  the  bus- 
iness of  feeding  and  attending  to  the  herds  of  cattle  over  the 
extensive  ranges  of  the  uplands.6  And  in  this  same  year,  as 
Draper  states,  the  Shelby  connection  removed  to  the  Holston 
country,  in  that  twilight  zone  of  the  debatable  ground  between 
North  Carolina  and  Virginia.7  Evan  Shelby  settled  on  the 
site  of  the  present  Bristol,  Tennessee ;  and  in  conjunction 
with  his  friend,  Isaac  Baker,  purchased  the  Sapling  Grove 
tract,  of  1946  acres,  Robert  Preston  dividing  it  equally  be- 
tween them. 


±Plain  Facts,  Philadelphia,  1781.  New  Governments  West  of  the 
Alleghanies  Before  1780,  by  G.  H.  Alden,  Madison,  Wis.,  1897.  Ci. 
also,  Hanna's  The  Wilderness  Trail,  ii,  59-60. 

5 J.  F.  D.  Smyth:  A  Tour  in  the  United  States  of  America,  ii.  143-4. 

6L.  C.  Draper :   Kings  Mountain  and  Its  Heroes,  411. 

7 Summers,  in  his  Southwest  Virginia,  1903,  671-2,  states  that  "in 
the  year  1765  or  shortly  thereafter,  Evan  Shelby  and  Isaac  Baker  left 
their  homes  in  Maryland  and  came  to  the  Holston  country."  The 
facts,  as  stated  above,  would  indicate  that  the  date,  1765,  is  incorrect, 
with  reference  to  the  migration  to  the  Holston  country  of  Evan 
Shelby,  at  least.  It  may  be  that  Isaac  Baker  preceded  Evan  Shelby 
to  the  Holston  country,  and  induced  him  to  remove  thither. 


ISAAC  SHELBY  113 

\ 

Isaac  Shelby  was  born  near  the  North  Mountain,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  on  December  11,  1750, 
being  the  eldest  son  of  Evan  Shelby  and  his  first  wife,  Letitia 
Scott,  of  Frederickstown,  Maryland.  The  intimacy  between 
Evan  Shelby  and  his  friend  Isaac  Baker  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  Shelby  named  one  of  his  sons  Isaac  and  Baker  named 
one  of  his  sons  Evan.  Endowed,  like  his  father,  with  an  iron 
constitution,  and  reared  in  a  martial  atmosphere,  Isaac  early 
adapted  himself  to  the  strenuous  life  of  the  pioneer  and  be- 
came expert  in  the  arts  of  hunting  and  woodcraft.  Even  be- 
fore he  reached  man's  estate  he  served  as  Deputy  Sheriff  of 
Frederick  County,  Maryland — a  tribute  to  his  self-control 
and  personal  prowess.8 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  country  was  continually  harrassed 
with  a  succession  of  Indian  wars,  young  Isaac  nevertheless 
succeeded  in  obtaining  the  rudiments  of  a  plain  English  edu- 
cation. After  the  removal  of  the  Shelbys  to  Kings  Meadows 
(near  Bristol),  Evan  Shelby  and  his  four  sons,  Isaac,  Evan, 
Moses,  and  James,  continued  to  herd  and  graze  cattle  on  an 
extensive  scale  along  the  Virginia  border,  about  forty  miles 
north  of  Watauga.9 

An  authentic  account  of  the  career  of  Evan  Shelby  and  his 
services  to  the  cause  of  American  independence  would  con- 
stitute an  extended  chapter  in  the  history  of  Indian  battles 
and  border  warfare.  As  indicative  of  the  high  estimation  in 
which  he  was  held  in  his  former  home,  one  may  cite  the  fol- 
lowing fragment  of  a  letter  to  Captain  Evan  Shelby  from 
General  William  Thompson,  bearing  the  address,  "Carlyle, 
6th  July,  1775." 

"Had  General  Washington  been  sure  you  could  have  joined 
the  army  at  Boston  without  first  seeing  your  family  (you) 
would  have  been  appointed  Lieut.  Colo,  (of  the)  Rifle  Battal- 
ion and  an  express  sent  by  you  being  so the 


8This  statement  is  made  on  the  authority  of  Cecil  B.  Hartley,  in 
his  sketch  of  Isaac  Shelby,  published  in  1860,  along  with  The  Life  and 
Adventures  of  Louis  Wetzel. 

9James  R.  Gilmore  :    The  Rear  Guard  of  the  Revolution,  1903,  64. 


114  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

general  concluded  it  (would  not  be — )  for  you  to  take  the 
field  before  seeing  your  family.  I  leave  for  Boston  on  Mon- 
day night." 

Upon  his  Sapling  Grove  plantation  Evan  Shelby  built  a 
fort  named  Shelby's  Station,  where  hundreds  were  sometimes 
forted  during  the  Revolution.  At  this  fort  the  Shelbys 
kept  a  store,  which  supplied  the  pioneers  with  ammunition, 
dress  stuffs,  articles  of  food  and  drink.  Daniel  Boone  pur- 
chased supplies  here  in  preparation  for  his  ill-timed  and  ill- 
fated  expedition  in  1773.  The  stout  old  Welshman,  stern 
though  he  may  have  been,  was  evidently  not  averse  to  con- 
viviality; on  an  old  ledger,  dated  Staunton,  Va.,  Nov.  22, 
1773,  conspicuous  in  the  account  against  Evan  Shelby  are 
such  entries  as:  "1  Bowl  tody,"  "1  Mug  cider,"  "1  Bowl 
Bumbo,"  "To  Club  in  Wine."  His  first  wife,  Letitia  Cox, 
died  in  1777,  and  is  buried  at  Charlottesville,  Va.  Late  in 
life  he  was  married  to  Isabella  Elliott;  and  the  records  show 
that  this  prudent  lady  required  one-third  of  his  estate  to  be 
deeded  to  her  before  marriage.  In  1794  Evan  Shelby  died, 
at  the  age  of  74,  and  his  widow  afterwards  was  married  again 
to  one  Dromgoole.  His  remains  now  repose  in  Bristol,  Tenn.,' 
on  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the  Lutheran  Church,  on  the  corner 
of  Fifth  and  Shelby  streets.11 

It  was  not  long  after  the  settlement  of  the  Shelbys  at  Sap- 
ling Grove  that  they  formed  the  acquaintance  of  such  leading 
men  of  the  border  as  James  Robertson,  John  Sevier,  Daniel 
Boone,  and  William  Russell.  A  little  incident  indicative  of 
the  experience  of  even  the  most  expert  pioneers  of  the  day  at 
the  hands  of  the  treacherous  and  furtive  red  men  is  recorded 
in  that  valuable  repository  of  historical  lore,  Bradford's  Notes 
on,  Kentucky.  "In  1772,"  records  Isaac  Shelby  in  one  of 
these  notes,  although  we  know  from  other  sources  that  he 
should  have  said  1771,  "I  met  Daniel  Boone  below  the  Hol- 
stein  settlement,  alone ;  he  informed  me  that  he  had  spent 
the  two  years  preceding  that  time  in  a  hunt  on  Louisa  river 


iiCf.  Oliver  Taylor :   Historic  Sullivan,  1909.    Also  L.  P.  Summers  : 
Southwest  Virginia,  1903. 


ISAAC   SHELBY  115 

(now  Kentucky),  so  called  by  all  the  Long  Hunters;  that  he 
had  been  robbed  the  day  before,  by  the  Cherokee  Indians,  of 
all  the  proceeds  of  his  hunt." 

It  was  at  the  instance  of  the  Shelbys  that  Sevier  moved  to 
the  Holston  settlements.  In  1772  John  Sevier  attended  a 
horse  race  at  the  Watauga  Old  Field,  and  witnessed  the  theft 
of  a  horse  by  a  burly  fellow  named  Shoate.  Sevier  was  about 
to  leave,  disgusted  by  the  incident — for  the  thief  pretended 
that  he  had  won  the  stolen  horse  as  the  result  of  a  wager — 
when  Evan  Shelby  remarked  to  him :  "Never  mind  the  rascals ; 
they'll  soon  poplar" — by  which  he  meant,  take  a  canoe  and 
get  out  of  the  country.  One  of  the  first  measures  taken  by  the 
Watauga  settlements  was  the  passage  of  laws  to  protect  them 
from  horse  thieves.  The  following  year  the  Seviers  removed 
to  Keywood,  about  six  miles  from  the  Shelbys,  later  settling 
in  Washington  County.12 

It  was  not  long  before  Isaac  Shelby,  young  though  he  was, 
came  to  be  regarded  as  a  man  of  promise  in  the  frontier  set- 
tlement. In  1771  he  was  appointed  Lieutenant  in  the  militia 
by  Colonel  William  Preston,  the  County  Lieutenant  of  Fin- 
castle  County.  The  anecdote  is  related  that,  when  Isaac 
thoughtlessly  sat  down  instead  of  remaining  at  attention 
while  his  commission  was  being  written  out  by  Col.  Preston, 
his  father,  with  characteristically  imperious  manner,  sternly 
admonished  him : 

"Get  up,  you  young  dog,  and  make  your  obeisance  to  the 
Colonel!" 

Whereupon  the  young  officer,  considerably  abashed,  arose 
and  made  the  amende  honorable  to  his  superior  officer.  In 
time  to  come  the  graceless  "young  dog"  was  to  prove  himself, 
as  soldier  and  statesman,  the  superior  of  his  bull-dog  father, 
the  grizzled  veteran  and  Indian  fighter. 

Endowed,  like  his  father,  with  an  herculean  frame,  though 
built  on  a  somewhat  larger  scale,  he  presents  a  formidable 
and  impressive  appearance  in  the  portraits  that  have  come 


i2Draper  Mss. ;  also  cf.  F.  M.  Turner  :   Life  of  General  John  Sevier, 
1910. 


116  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

down  to  us — with  firm,  compressed  lips,  heavy  chin,  massive 
features,  beetling  brows  over  fixed,  deep-set  eyes — a  man  of 
"uncommon  intelligence  and  stern,  unbending  integrity." 

II. 

Daniel  Boone's  attempt,  without  shadow  of  title,  to  make  a 
settlement  in  Kentucky,  in  September,  1773,  had  met  with  a 
bloody  repulse  on  the  part  of  the  Indians.  In  a  letter  to 
Dartmouth,  Dunmore  said  in  regard  to  the  "Americans,"  the 
pioneer  settlers:  "They  acquire  no  attachment  to  place:  But 
wandering  about  Seems  engrafted  in  their  Nature ;  and  it  is 
a  weakness  incident  to  it  that  they  Should  for  ever  Imagine 
the  Lands  further  off,  are  Still  better  than  those  upon  which 
they  are  already  Settled."13  The  continued  encroachments  of 
the  white  settlers  upon  the  Indian  hunting  grounds  fanned  to 
flame  the  smouldering  animosity  of  the  red  man.  The  Six 
Nations,  at  the  Treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  in  1768,  had  sold  to 
the  Crown,  through  Sir  William  Johnson,  their  unwarranted 
claim  to  a  vast  stretch  of  territory  extending  as  far  to  the 
southward  as  the  Kentucky  River.  The  Southern  Indians, 
the  aboriginal  occupants  of  the  soil,  indignantly  denied  the 
right  of  the  Six  Nations  to  this  Territory.  The  Indians  along 
the  border  were  aroused  to  a  pitch  of  excessive  hostility  by  the 
continued  incursions  of  the  whites.  A  succession  of  attacks 
by  the  Indians  upon  outlying  and  scattered  settlements  soon 
led  to  bloody  reprisals  on  the  part  of  the  whites.  The  open 
letter  of  Conolly,  Governor  Dunmore's  agent,  calling  upon 
the  backwoodsmen  to  prepare  to  defend  themselves  from  the 
attacks  of  the  Shawnees,  was  issued  on  April  21,  1771,  and 
the  barbarous  murder  of  Logan's  family  at  the  mouth  of  Yel- 
low Creek  on  April  30,  by  one  Greathouse  and  a  score  of 
carousing  white  companions,  rendered  the  conflict  inevitable. 
Yet  actual  hostilities  were  slow  to  commence,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  summer  of  1771  that  Daniel  Boone  and  Michael 
Stoner  were  dispatched  by  Dunmore  to  Kentucky,  to  conduct 


i3Draper  Mss.,  15J4-4S. 


ISAAC   SHELBY  117 

into  the  settlements  the  various  parties  of  surveyors  scattered 
about  through  the  Kentucky  area.  The  war  was  now  begun, 
and  Lord  Dunmore,  hoping  to  reconcile  the  differences  be- 
tween the  colonists  and  England  by  a  successful  campaign 
against  the  Indians,  proceeded  vigorously  to  carry  the  war 
into  the  enemy's  country. 

There  were  two  divisions  in  Lord  Dunmore' s  army,  one  of 
fully  twelve  hundred  men  under  the  command  of  the  earl  in 
person,  the  other  of  about  eleven  hundred  strong,  under  the 
command  of  General  Andrew  Lewis,  a  stalwart  backwoods 
fighter.  For  some  inexplicable  motive,  which  has  been  sus- 
pected, no  doubt,  erroneously,  as  an  attempt  at  treachery  to 
the  Americans,  Dunmore  decided  not  to  unite  his  force  with 
that  of  Lewis ;  and  after  a  long  march  he  took  up  his  position 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Hockhocking,  erected  a  stockade  styled 
Fort  Gower,  and  awaited  news  of  Lewis's  brigade.  The  divis- 
ion of  Lewis  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Kanawha  River 
on  October  6  and  encamped  at  Point  Pleasant.  On  the  ninth 
the  order  came  to  Lewis  from  Dunmore  to  join  him  at  the 
,  Indian  towns  near  the  Pickaway  Plains.  The  sagacious 
Cornstalk,  the  Indian  leader,  divining  the  plan  of  the  whites, 
resolved  to  hurl  his  entire  force  of  one  thousand  warriors  upon 
the  sleeping  army  at  Point  Pleasant. 

Of  the  several  commands  under  Lewis  one  was  composed  of 
the  Fincastle  men,  from  the  Holston,  Clinch,  Watauga,  and 
New  River  settlements,  under  Col.  William  Christian.  The 
Holston  men  were  the  advance  guard  of  civilization  at  this 
period,  the  most  daring  settlers  who  had  pushed  farthest  out 
into  the  western  wilderness.  In  Col.  Christian's  command 
were  five  captains,  Evan  Shelby,  Russell,  Herbert,  Draper, 
and  Buford ;  and  under  Evan  Shelby  were  his  sons,  Isaac,  a 
lieutenant,  and  James ;  and  James  Robertson  and  Valentine 
Sevier,  orderly  sergeants. 

The  battle  which  ensued  has  been  described  in  such  accurate 
and  graphic  terms  in  a  letter  to  John  Shelby,  by  Isaac  Shelby, 


118  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

who  played  an  important  part  in  the  fierce  engagement,  that 
his  letter  is  given  here  in  full  :14 

Camp  Opposite  to  the  Mouth  of  Great  Canaway, 

October  16th,  1774. 

Dr.  Uncle  : — I  Gladly  imbrace  this  opportunity  to  Acquaint  You 
that  we  are  all  threeis  yet  alive  th(r)o  Gods  Mercies  &  I  Sinceerly 
wish  that  this  may  find  you  &  your  Family  in  the  Station  of  Health 
that  we  left  you.  I  never  had  anything  Worth  Notice  to  quaint  you 
with  since  I  left  you  till  now,  the  Express  seems  to  be  Hurrying 
that  I  Cant  write  you  with  the  same  Coolness  &  Deliberation  as  I 
would;  we  arrived  at  the  mouth  (of)  Canaway  Thursday  6th.  Octr. 
and  incampd  on  a  fine  piece  of  Ground  with  an  intent  to  wait  for  the 
Governor  &  his  party  but  hearing  that  he  was  going  another  way  we 
Contented  our  selves  to  stay  there  a  few  days  to  rest  the  troops  &c, 
when  we  looked  upon  our  selves  to  be  in  safety  till  Monday  morning 
the  10th  Instant  when  two  of  our  Compys.  went  out  before  day  to 
hunt.  To  wit  Val.  Sevier  &  Jas  Robison  &  Discovered  a  party  of 
Indians ;  as  I  expect  you  will  hear  something  of  our  Battle  before 
you  get  this  I  have  here  stated  this  affair  nearly  to  you. 

For  the  Satisfaction  of  the  people  in  your  parts  in  this  they  have  a 
true  state  of  the  Memorable  Battle  faught  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great 
Canaway  on  the  10th.  Instant ;  Monday  morning  about  half  an  Hour 
before  Sunrise  two  of  Capt.  Russells  Compy.  Discovered  a  large  party 
of  Indians  about  a  mile  from  Camp  one  of  which  men  was  killed  the 
Other  made  his  Escape  &  brought  in  his  intelligence  ;16  in  two  or  three 
minutes  affter  two  of  Capt  Shelbys  Compy.  Came  in  and  Confirmed 
the  Account.  Colo.  Andrew  Lewis  being  Informed  thereof  Immediately 
ordered  Colo.  Charles  Lewis  to  take  the  Command  of  150  men  from 
Augusta  and  with  him  went  Capt.  Dickison.  Capt.  Harrison.  Capt. 
Willson.  Capt.  Jno.  Lewis  from  Augusta  and  Capt.  Lockridge  which 
made  the  first  division.  Colo.  Fleming  was  also  ordered  to  take  the 
Command  of  one  hundred  &  fifty  more  Consisting  of  Botetourt  Fin- 
castle  and  Bedford  Troops  Viz.  Capt.  Buford  of  Bedford  Capt.  Love 
of  Botetourt  Capt.  Shelby  &  Capt.  Russell  of  Fincastle  which  made 
the  second  Division.     Colo.  Lewis  marched  with  his  Division  to  the 


i4The  copy  here  used  is  made  directly  from  the  original  in  the 
Draper  Mss.,  7  ZZ  2.  The  text  used  by  Roosevelt  (Winning  of  the 
West)  is  drawn  from  a  manuscript  copy  of  Shelby's  letter,  in  the 
Campbell  Mss. 

i5Captain  Evan  Shelby  and  his  two  sons,  Isaac  and  James. 

i6These  were  Joseph  Hugbey,  of  Shelby's  company,  and  James 
Mooney,  of  Russell's.  The  former  was  killed  by  a  white  renegade, 
Tavenor  Ross,  while  the  latter  brought  the  news  to  camp.  Mooney 
was  a  former  neighbor  of  Daniel  Boone,  upon  the  Yadkin  in  North 
Carolina,  and  had  accompanied  him  upon  the  disastrous  Kentucky 
hunting  expedition  of  1769.  He  was  killed  at  Point  Pleasant.  Cf. 
Dunmore's  War,  edited  by  Thwaites  and  Kellogg.  271-2. 


ISAAC  SHELBY  119 

Right  some  Distance  up  from  the  Ohio.  Colo.  Fleming  with  his 
Division  up  the  banck  of  the  Ohio  to  the  left :  Colo.  Lewiss  Division 
had  not  marchd.  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  Camp ; 
when  about  sunrise,  an  Attact  was  made  on  the  front  of  his  Division 
in  a  most  Vigorous  manner  by  the  Uni*.  xl  tribes  of  Indians — Shaw- 
nees ;  Delewares ;  Mingoes ;  Taways.i?  and  of  several  Other  Nations 
in  Number  not  less  than  Eight  Hundred  and  by  many  thaught  to  be  a 
thousand ;  in  this  Heavy  Attact  Colonel  Charles  Lewis  received  a 
wound  which  soon  after  Caused  his  Death  and  several  of  his  men 
fell  in  the  Spott  in  fact  the  Augusta  Division  was  forced  to  give  way 
to  the  heavy  fire  of  the  Enemy.  In  about  a  second  of  a  minute  after 
the  Attact  on  Colo.  Lewiss  Division  the  Enemy  Engaged  the  Front  of 
Colo.  Flemings  Division  on  the  Ohio ;  and  in  a  short  time  Colo.  Flem- 
ing reed,  two  balls  thro  his  left  Arm  and  one  thro  his  breast ;  and 
after  annimating  the  Captains  and  soldiers  in  a  Calm  manner  to  the 
pursuit  of  Victory  returned  to  Camp,  the  loss  of  the  Brave  Colonels 
was  Sensibly  felt  by  the  Officers  in  particular,  But  the  Augusta 
troops  being  shortly  Reinforced  from  Camp  by  Colonel  Field  with  his 
Company  together  with  Capt.  M'Dowel,  Capt.  Mathews  &  Capt. 
Stuart  from  Augusta,  Capt.  John  Lewis,  Capt.  Paulin  Capt.  Arbuckle 
&  Capt.  M'Clanahan  from  Botetourt,  the  Enemy  no  longer  able  to 
Maintain  their  Ground  was  forced  to  give  way  till  they  were  in  a 
Line  with  the  troops  left  in  action  on  Bancks  of  Ohio,  by  Colo  Flem- 
ing in  this  precipitate  retreat  Colo.  Field  was  killed,  after  which 
Capt,  Shelby  was  ordered  to  take  the  Commd.  During  this  time 
which  was  till  after  twelve  of  the  Clock,  the  Action  continued  Ex- 
treemly  Hott,  the  Close  underwood  many  steep  bancks  &  Loggs 
favoured  their  retreat,  and  the  Bravest  of  their  men  made  the  use 
of  themselves,  whilst  others  were  throwing  their  dead  into  the  Ohio, 
and  Carrying  of(f)  their  wounded,  after  twelve  the  Action  in  a 
small  degree  abated  but  Continued  sharp  Enough  till  after  one 
oClock  Their  Long  retreat  gave  them  a  most  advantages  spot  of 
ground  ;  from  whence  it  Appeared  to  the  Officers  so  difficult  to  dis- 
lodge them ;  that  it  was  thought  most  adviseable  to  stand  as  the  line 
then  was  formed  which  was  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  in  length,  and 
had  till  then  sustained  a  Constant  and  Equal  weight  of  fire  from  wing 
to  wing,  it  was  till  half  an  Hour  of  Sun  sett  they  Continued  firing  on 
us  which  we  returned  to  their  Disadvantage  at  length  Night  Coming 
on  they  found  a  safe  retreat.  They  had  not  the  satisfaction  of  scalp- 
ing any  of  our  men  save  One  or  two  straglers  whom  they  Killed  be- 
fore the  ingagement  many  of  their  dead  they  scalped  rather  than 
we  should  have  them  but  our  troops  scalped  upwards  of  twenty  of 
those  who  were  first  killed ;  Its  Beyond  a  Doubt  their  Loss  in 
Number  farr  Exceeds  ours,  which  is  Considirable. 

Field   Officers  killed  Colo.   Charles  Lewis,  and  Colo.   Jno.   Fields, 
Field   Officers   wounded    Colo.   Willin.    Fleming ;    Capts.    killed    John 


i7The  Ottawas,  a  Northwestern  tribe. 


120  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Murray  Capt.  Saml.  Willson  Capt.  Robt.  McClanahan,  Capt.  Jas. 
Ward,  Captains  wounded  Thos  Buford  John  Dickison  &  John  Scid- 
more,  Subbalterns  Killed  Lieutenant  Hugh  Allen,  Ensign  Mathew 
Brakin  Ensign  Cundiff,  Subbalterns  wounded,  Lieut.  Lard ;  Lieut. 
Yance   Lieut.    Goldman   Lieut.    Jas.    Robison  about   46    killed    & 

about  80  wounded  from  this  Sir  you  may  Judge  that  we  had  a 
Very  hard  day  its  really  Impossible  for  me  to  Express  or  you  to 
Concieve  Acclamations  that  we  were  under,  sometimes,  the  Hidious 
Cries  of  the  Enemy  and  the  groans  of  our  wound  (ed)  men  lying 
around  was  Enough  to  shuder  the  stoutest  hart  its  the  general  Opin- 
ion of  the  Officers  that  we  shall  soon  have  another  Ingagement  as  we 
have  now  got  Over  into  the  Enemys  Country ;  we  Expect  to  meet  the 
Governor  about  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  here  nothing  will  save  us 
from  another  Battle  Unless  they  Attact  the  Governors  Party,  five 
men  that  Came  in  Dadys  (daddy's)  Company  were  killed,  I  dont 
know  that  you  were  Acquainted  with  any  of  them  Except  Marck  Wil- 
liams who  lived  with  Roger  Top.  Acquaint  Mr.  Carmack  that  his  son 
was  slightly  wounded  thro  the  shoulder  and  arm  &  that  he  is  in  a 
likely  way  of  Recovery  we  leave  him  at  mouth  of  Canaway  &  one 
Very  Carefull  hand  to  take  Care  of  him ;  there  is  a  garrison  &  three 
Hundred  men  left  at  that  place  with  a  surgeon  to  Heal  the  wounded 
we  Expect  to  Return  to  the  Garrison  in  about  16  days  from  the 
Shawny  Towns. 

I  have  nothing  more  Perticular  to  Acquaint  you  with  Concerning 
the  Battle,  as  to  the  Country  I  cant  now  say  much  in  praise  of  any 
that  I  have  yet  seen.  Dady  intended  writing  to  you  but  did  not  know 
of  the  Express  till  the  time  was  too  short  I  have  wrote  to  Mam(m)y 
tho  not  so  fully  as  to  you  as  I  then  expected  the  Express  was  Just 
going,  we  seem  to  be  all  in  a  Moving  Posture  Just  going  from  this 
place  so  that  I  must  Conclude  wishing  you  health  and  prosperity  till 
I  see  you  and  Your  Family  in  the  meantime  I  am  yr  truly  Effectionate 
Friend  &  Humble  Servt  Isaac  Shelby. 

To  Mr.  John  Shelby  Holstons  River  Fincastle  County  favr.  by  Mr. 
Benja.  Gray. 

This  recital,  written  by  the  young  Isaac  Shelby,  modestly 
omits  any  mention  of  the  very  important  part  which  he  him- 
self played  in  the  battle.  Upon  the  death  of  Colonel  John 
Field,  Captain  Evan  Shelby  was  ordered  to  the  command, 
and  upon  so  doing  he  gave  over  the  command  of  his  own  com- 
pany to  his  son,  Isaac,  who,  while  only  holding  the  rank  of  a 
lieutenant,  acted  in  the  capacity  of  a  captain  during  about 
half  the  battle.  Cornstalk,  Logan,  Red  Eagle,  and  other 
brave  chieftains,  fighting  fiercely,  led  in  the  attack ;  and  above 
the  terrible  din  and  clangor  of  the  battle  could  be  heard  the 


,      ISAAC  SHELBY  121 

deep,  sonorous  voice  of  Cornstalk  encouraging  bis  warriors 
with  the  injunction :  "Be  strong !  Be  strong !"  The  Indians 
led  by  Cornstalk  adopted  the  tactics  of  making  successive 
rushes  upon  the  whites  by  which  they  expected  to  drive  the 
frontiersmen  into  the  two  rivers,  "like  so  many  bullocks,"  as 
the  chief  later  explained.  So  terrific  were  the  onslaughts  of  the 
red  men  that  the  lines  of  the  frontiersmen  had  frequently  to 
fall  back ;  but  these  withdrawals  were  only  temporary,  as  they 
were  skillfully  reinforced  each  time  and  again  moved  steadily 
forward  to  the  conflict.  About  half  an  hour  before  sunset 
General  Lewis  adopted  the  dangerous  expedient  of  a  flank 
movement.  Captains  Shelby,  Matthews,  Arbuckle,  and  Stuart 
were  sent  with  a  detachment  up  Crooked  Creek,  which  runs 
into  the  Kanawha  a  little  above  Point  Pleasant,  with  a  view 
to  securing  a  ridge  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  from  which  their 
lines  could  be  enfiladed.  Concealed  by  the  undergrowth  along 
the  bank  they  endeavored  to  execute  this  hazardous  move- 
ment ;  and  John  Sawyers,  an  orderly  sergeant,  was  dispatched 
by  Isaac  Shelby  with  a  few  men  of  the  company  to  dislodge 
the  Indians  from  their  protected  position.  This  fierce  attack 
from  an  unsuspected  quarter  alarmed  the  Indians.  Cornstalk 
leaped  to  the  conclusion  that  this  was  the  advance  guard  of 
Christian's  party,  and  giving  the  alarm  hurried  his  forces  to 
the  other  side  of  Old  Town  Creek.  The  battle  continued  in  a 
desultory  way  until  sunset,  and  no  decisive  victory  had  been 
achieved.  But  Cornstalk  and  his  warriors  had  had  enough, 
and  withdrew  during  the  night. 1S 

In  this  remarkable  battle,  the  most  stubborn  and  hotly  con- 
tested fight  ever  made  by  the  Indians  against  the  English,  it 
was  the  flanking  movement  of  the  detachment  in  which  Isaac 
Shelby  took  a  leading  part  that  turned  the  tide  and  decided 
the  victory  for  the  whites.     This  battle,  which  brought  about 


i8Cornpare  the  account  given  by  Withers  in  his  Chronicles  of  Border 
Warfare,  edited  and  annotated  by  R.  G.  Thwaites ;  Cincinnati,  1908. 
See  also  Stuart's  Narrative,  in  Virginia  Historical  Collections,  vol.  I. 
The  most  exhaustive  account  of  the  entire  campaign  is  embodied  in 
Dunmore's  War,  edited  by  Thwaites  and  Kellogg.  Madison,  1905.  An 
excellent  map  is  found  in  Avery's  History  of  the  United  States,  vol. 
5,  p.  183. 


122  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

an  early  conclusion  of  peace,  was  from  this  standpoint  com- 
pletely decisive  in  character ;  and  it  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  Isaac  Shelby,  the  twenty-four  year  old  captain,  thus 
played  an  important  role  in  this  thrilling  scene  of  warfare 
preliminary  to  the  great  drama  of  the  Revolution.  "This 
action,"  comments  Isaac  Shelby  in  his  Autobiography ,  "is 
known  to  be  the  hardest  ever  fought  with  the  Indians  and  in 
its  consequences  was  of  the  greatest  importance  as  it  was 
fought  while  the  first  Congress  was  sitting  at  Philadelphia, 
and  so  completely  were  the  savages  chastised,  particularly  the 
Shawnees  and  Delawares  (the  two  most  formidable  tribes) 
that  they  could  not  be  induced  by  British  agents  among  them, 
neither  to  the  North  nor  South,  to  commence  hostilities 
against  the  United  States  before  July,  1776,  in  which  time  the 
frontiers  had  become  considerably  stronger  and  the  settle- 
ment of  Kentucky  had  commenced." 

Indeed  it  was  this  victory  of  the  Great  Kanawha,  with  its 
temporary  subjugation  of  the  savages,  which  made  possible 
Colonel  Richard  Henderson's  gallant  advance  into  Kentucky 
in  March-April,  1775,  ultimately  eventuating  in  the  acquisi- 
tion of  Kentucky  and  the  vast  trans- Alleghany  region  to  the 
territory  of  the  United  States.  Shelby's  comment  is  signifi- 
cant in  its  emphasis,  as  he  was  present  at  the  "Great  Treaty" 
at  the  Sycamore  Shoals  of  the  Watauga  in  March,  1775,  and 
a  little  later  was  serving  as  surveyor  in  the  employ  of  the 
Transylvania  Company.  Without  the  impetus  given  to  the 
colonization  of  the  trans-Alleghany  region  by  Richard  Hen- 
derson and  the  Transylvania  Company,  there  would  have  been 
no  bulwark  on  the  west  against  the  incursions  of  savages  from 
that  quarter  during  the  Revolution ;  and  at  the  conclusion  of 
peace  in  1783,  the  western  boundary  of  the  Confederation  of 
States  would  doubtless  have  been  the  Alleghany  Mountains 
and  not  the  Mississippi  River.  Isaac  Shelby  was  a  hero  of  the 
first  battle  preluding  the  mighty  conflict  which  was  ultimately 
to  end  victoriously  at  Yorktown.19 


i9Cf.  Hale's  Trans-Alleghany  Pioneers,  Cincinnati,  1886,  ch.  XXXII. 
Also  Todd's  Life  of  Shelby,  in  National  Portrait  Gallery,  I,  1835. 


ISAAC   SHELBY  123 

At  the  close  of  the  campaign,  if  not  immediately  following 
the  battle,  a  small  palisaded  rectangle,  abont  eighty  yards 
long,  with  block  houses  at  two  of  its  corners,  was  erected  at 
Point  Pleasant  by  order  of  Lord  Dunmore.  This  stockade, 
entitled  Fort  Blair,  was  strongly  garrisoned,  and  the  chief 
command  was  given  to  that  splendid  border  fighter,  Captain 
William  Russell.  The  young  Isaac  Shelby,  in  recognition  of 
his  valued  services  in  the  recent  bloody  battle,  was  made 
second  in  command.20  It  was  here,  says  tradition,  that  the 
Indian  chief,  Cornstalk,  came  to  shake  the  hand  of  the  young 
paleface  brave,  Isaac  Shelby,  who  had  led  the  strategic  flank 
movement  which  stampeded  his  army.21 

The  following  interesting  letter,  addressed  to  "Mr.  Isaac 
Shelby,  Holston,"  explains  the  state  of  affairs  which  then  ex- 
isted in  that  region,  and  the  movements  being  set  on  foot.  It 
is  a  double  letter,  for  at  the  end  of  Col.  William  Christian's 
letter  to  Isaac  Shelby,  which  Shelby  had  forwarded  to  Colo. 
William  Russell,  the  latter  wrote  a  supplementary  letter,  and 
returned  the  whole  to  Isaac  Shelby. 

Dunkaed  Bottom,  February  18,  1775. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  have  lately  been  at  Williamsburg,  and  applied  to  his 
Excellency  the  Governor  to  know  what  was  to  be  done  with  the  garri- 
son at  point  pleasant.  His  Lordship  has  been  disappointed  in  getting 
the  consent  of  the  Assembly  for  the  continuance  of  the  Company,  but 
he  desired  me  to  acquaint  Captain  Russell  that  he  was  to  return  to 
his  post  and  remain  there  until  the  treaty  with  the  Indians,  which  is 
to  be  at  Fort  Dunmore  in  may,  or  until  further  orders.  I  think  it 
will  be  in  June  before  that  treaty  is  finished  &  also  that  his  Lordship 
wishes  that  the  garrison  could  be  kept(?)  up  from  a  desire  he  has  to 
serve  the  Frontiers.  I  have  wrote  to  Captain  Russell  to  come  down  in 
order  to  take  the  charge  of  one  of  the  Shawnese  Hostages  who  was 
sent  up  with  me.    The  design  of  sending  him  is  to  satisfy  the  Indians 


20isaac  Shelby's  Autobiography.  Cf.  also  Dunmore' s  War,  p.  310  n; 
Chas.  S.  Todd's  Life  of  Shelby,  National  Portrait  Gallery,  vol.  I. 
Thwaites  says  that  General  Lewis,  who  reached  Point  Pleasant  on 
October  28,  left  there  a  garrison  of  fifty  men  under  Captain  Russell. 
Cf.  Withers's  Chronicles  of  Border  Warfare,  1908,  p.  176n. 

^Southern  Heroism  in  Decisive  Battles  for  American  Independ- 
ence, by  Charles  Henry  Todd,  in  Journal  of  American  History,  vol.  II, 
No.  2. 


124  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

of  our  friendly  intentions,  in  contradiction  to  several  reports  spread 
among  them  by  pensilvania  Traders  intimating  that  we  designed  fall- 
ing on  them  next  spring.  The  reports  it  was  feared  might  set  on  foot 
a  general  confederacy  among  the  Shawnese  &  their  neighbors. 

I  expect  Captain  Russell  will  contrive  to  be  as  far  as  McGavocks 
the  7th.  of  March  on  his  way  to  the  post  and  I  now  write  to  you 
thinking  it  may  reach  you  much  sooner  than  Captain  Russell  could 
send  to  you,  thereby  to  give  you  more  time  to  prepare  for  joining 
him. 

I  saw  Jno.  Douglass  this  evening  &  he  thinks  that  near  50  men  of 
those  now  on  duty  will  agree  to  continue  &  perhaps  that  will  be 
enough.  If  you  get  this  letter  quickly  would  it  not  be  well  for  you 
to  ride  over  and  consult  with  the  Captain  what  is  to  be  done.  It  is 
certain  that  you  or  him  must  set  of  (off)  soon  with  the  Indian,  or  I 
think  it  may  (mutilated)  to  come  the  time  I  have  mentioned. 

A  convention  of  delegates  is  to  be  held  at  Richmond  the  20  of 
March  to  consist  of  two  members  from  each  county  &  corporation, 
what  is  to  be  the  consequence  of  the  present  disputes  is  yet  uncer- 
tain, but  nothing  paciflck  is  expected.  The  lowland  people  are  gen- 
erally arming  and  preparing  themselves. 

Please  to  give  my  compliments  to  your  Father  &  tell  him  that  it  is 
most  probable  that  the  Committee  will  meet  the  day  of  our  Election 
•yhich  is  to  be  the  7  of  March  &  that  if  he  can  make  it  convenient  he 
may  as  well  come  up. 

I  am  Sir  Your  friend  &  servant, 

Wm  Christian 

On  the  next  sheet  occurs  the  following,  in  the  handwriting 

of  William  Russell : 

My  Dear  Sir: 

I  just  Reed,  this  letter  of  yours  and  one  of  my  own.  It  seems 
Captain  Morgan  of  the  Shawanees  is  sent  up  for  us,  to  guard  out  to 
the  Shawanees  Towns  upon  Business  of  Importance,  therefore  re- 
quest your  goodness  to  meet  me  on  Sunday  next  at  Mr.  Souths  about 
Night  in  order  to  go  together  to  McGavocks  against  Tuesday  next  to  a 
meeting  of  the  Committee  either  to  Proceed  from  there  or  to  return 
by  my  House,  if  so,  you  can  return  Home  (mutilated)  I  start,  I  am 
Dear  Sir. 

Your  most  obedt  Humble 

Servt  W.  Russell 

Tuesday  the  27th,  1775. 
To  Mr.  Isaac  Shelbey  Holston. 

When  Daniel  Boone  and  his  friend,  Captain  William  Rus- 
sell, the  leading  pioneer  in  the  Clinch  Valley,  at  the  head  of  a 
party  of  emigrants,  attempted  their  settlement  of  Kentucky  in 


ISAAC  SHELBY  125 

1773,  they  were  driven  back  by  the  Indians  on  September  25, 
and  abandoned  the  enterprise.  For  years,  in  fact  since  1764, 
Daniel  Boone  had  been  making  exploring  expeditions  to  the 
westward  in  the  interest  of  the  land  company  known  as  Rich- 
ard Henderson  and  Company.22  Another  explorer  for  Rich- 
ard Henderson,  who  later  made  hunting  tours  and  explora- 
tions in  Kentucky,  was  Henry  Skaggs,  who  as  early  as  1765 
examined  the  lower  Cumberland  region  as  the  representative 
of  Richard  Henderson  and  Company  and  established  his  sta- 
tion near  the  present  site  of  Goodletsville,  in  Davidson 
County,  Tennessee.23  With  the  Western  country  thoroughly 
disturbed  and  infested  with  bands  of  hostile  red  men,  during 
1773  and  1774,  Col.  Henderson  recognized  the  signal  unwis- 
dom of  attempting  a  western  settlement  on  an  extended  scale. 
It  was  Daniel  Boone's  impatience  to  reach  the  West  and  his 
determination  to  settle  there,  regardless  of  legal  right  and 
without  securing  the  title  by  purchase  from  the  Cherokees, 
which  led  to  his  disastrous  setback  at  Walden's  Ridge  in 
1773.  This  entire  episode  exposes  Boone's  inefficiency  as  an 
executive  and  his  inability  to  carry  through  plans  made  on  a 
large  scale.  It  was  not  until  the  remarkable  legal  mind  of 
Judge  Henderson  and  his  rare  executive  ability  were  applied 
to  the  vast  and  complex  project  of  western  colonization  that 
it  was  carried  through  to  a  successful  termination. 

Two  momentous  circumstances  now  intervened  to  make 
possible  the  great  western  venture,  upon  which  Judge  Hen- 
derson, during  a  decade  and  more,  had  staked  all  his  hopes. 
Correspondence  with  the  highest  legal  authorities  in  England 
assured  Judge  Henderson  that  despite  the  Royal  Proclama- 
tion in  1763  he  would  be  entirely  within  his  rights,  as  a  Brit- 
ish subject,  to  purchase  the  western  lands  from  the  Cherokees 
and  secure  authentic  title  thereto.  The  victory  of  the  back- 
woodsmen over  the  red  men  at  the  Battle  of  the  Great  Kana- 


22Compare  the  author's  The  Creative  Forces  in  Westward  Expan- 
sion: Henderson  and  Boone,  in  the  American  Historical  Review, 
October,  1914. 

23Albright's  Early  History  of  Middle  Tennessee,  Nashville,  1909, 
p.  23. 


126  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

wha  greatly  reduced  the  dangers  incident  to  a  visit  to  the 
Kentucky  wilderness,  and  in  1775  warranted  the  bold  venture 
which,  in  1773,  Boone,  upon  his  own  responsibility  alone,  had 
found  so  disastrous.  Following  the  Battle  of  the  Great  Ka- 
nawha, Judge  Henderson,  accompanied  by  his  friend  and 
neighbor,  Colonel  Nathaniel  Hart,  visited  the  Indians  at  their 
towns  and,  upon  inquiry,  learned  that  the  Cherokees  were 
disposed  to  sell  their  claims  to  the  Kentucky  territory.  The 
agreement  was  made  to  meet  the  entire  tribe  of  the  Cherokees 
in  Treaty  Council  at  the  Sycamore  Shoals,  on  Watauga  River, 
early  in  the  next  year.  On  their  return  to  the  settlements 
Judge  Henderson  and  Colonel  Hart  were  accompanied  by  the 
Little  Carpenter,  a  wise  old  Indian  Chief,  and  a  young  buck 
and  his  squaw,  as  delegates  to  see  that  proper  goods  were  pur- 
chased for  the  proposed  barter.  These  goods  were  purchased 
in  December,  1774,  at  Cross  Creek,  near  Fayetteville,  North 
Carolina,  and  forwarded  by  wagons  to  Watauga. 

Since  his  repulse  at  Walden's  Ridge,  in  September,  1773, 
when  the  sons  of  both  Russell  and  himself  had  been  slaugh- 
tered by  Indians,  Boone,  together  with  his  family,  had  been 
residing  in  a  cabin  upon  the  farm  of  Captain  David  Gass, 
seven  or  eight  miles  from  Russell's,  upon  Clinch  River.  He 
was  now  summoned  to  Watauga,  instructed  to  collect  the  en- 
tire tribe  of  Cherokee  Indians  and  bring  them  in  to  the  treaty 
ground.  The  news  of  the  purposes  of  the  Transylvania  Com- 
pany became  public  property  when  Judge  Henderson  and  his 
associates,  in  January,  1775,  issued  their  "Proposals  for  the 
Settlement  of  Western  Lands,"  which,  in  the  form  of  broad- 
sides, were  distributed  widely  along  the  fringe  of  settlements 
upon  the  Indian  border  line.  News  of  the  proposed  treaty 
quickly  reached  young  Isaac  Shelby  at  Fort  Blair;  and  his 
pioneering  instinct  unerringly  drew  him  to  the  focus  of  in- 
terest, the  treaty  ground.  We  are  fortunate  in  having  handed 
down  to  us,  from  that  early  time,  a  description  of  the  treaty 
on  the  part  of  the  young  Isaac  Shelby,  who  was  an  eye-witness. 
Following  the  confiscation  of  the  Transylvania  Company's 
claims  by  the  State  of  Virginia,  a  series  of  extended  investiga- 


ISAAC   SHELBY  127 

tions  in  regard  to  the  Treaty  of  Sycamore  Shoals  were  made 
by  order  of  the  Virginia  Legislature.  The  points  that  were 
in  great  need  of  being  settled  were:  First,  whether  the  de- 
ponents were  financially  interested  in  lands  under  the  Tran- 
sylvania Company ;  second,  whether  the  treaty  was  conducted 
with  entire  fairness ;  and  third,  whether  the  deeds  taken  by 
the  Transylvania  Company  were  identical,  in  regard  to  the 
metes  and  bounds  of  the  territory  purchased,  with  the  verbal 
statement  of  the  negotiators  of  the  treaty,  made  to  the  Chero- 
kees.  As  it  was  subsequently  proven,  as  a  result  of  the  inves- 
tigations of  the  Virginia  Commissioners,  that  the  treaty  was 
conducted  with  scrupulous  fairness  by  Judge  Henderson  and 
his  partners,  it  is  interesting  to  read  the  following  extract 
from  the  deposition  sworn  to  on  December  3,  1777,  before 
Edmund  Randolph  and  Jo.  Prentiss,  by  Isaac  Shelby: 

"That  in  March,  1775,  this  Deponent  was  present  at  a 
Treaty  held  at  Wattaugha  between  the  said  Henderson  and 
the  Cherokee  Indians :  that  the  deponent  then  heard  the  said 
Henderson  call  the  Indians,  when  the  deed  by  which  the  said 
Henderson  now  claims  was  going  to  be  signed,  and  declared 
that  they  would  attend  to  what  was  going  to  be  done :  that  the 
deponent  believes  the  courses  in  the  said  Deed  contained,  to 
be  the  very  courses  which  the  said  Henderson  read  therefrom 
to  the  Indians  and  were  interpreted  to  them.  That  the  said 
Henderson  took  the  said  Deed  from  among  several  others  lying 
on  a  table,  all  of  which  appeared  to  the  Deponent  to  be  of  the 
same  tenor  with  that  which  he  read — That  at  the  time  of  this 
Treaty,  one  Read  who  was  there  and  suspected  that  the 
said  Henderson  intended  to  purchase  some  lands  which  he 
himself  had  his  Eyes  on,  desired  the  said  Deed  to  be  read 
before  it  was  signed,  which  was  accordingly  done,  and  the 
said  Read  objected  not  thereto." 

It  was  doubtless  at  some  time  during  the  course  of  the 
treaty — a  treaty  universally  conceded  to  have  been  unparal- 
leled for  honesty  and  fair  dealing  with  the  Indians  on  the 
part  of  the  whites — that  Judge  Henderson,  attracted  by  the 
sterling  qualities  of  the  young  Shelby  and  by  his  manifest 


3  28  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

eagerness  to  connect  himself  with  Henderson's  plans  of 
colonization,  secured  the  promise  of  his  services  in  the  future, 
following  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment,  as  surveyor 
for  the  Transylvania  Company.  The  garrison  of  Fort  Blair 
was  not  disbanded  until  July,  1775  ;  and  immediately  Shelby 
journeyed  to  Kentucky  and  engaged  in  the  business  of  land 
surveyor  for  the  proprietors  of  the  Transylvania  Company, 
who  had  established  a  regular  land  office  as  the  result  of  their 
purchase  of  the  Kentucky  area  from  the  Cherokees.  Here  he 
remained  for  nearly  twelve  months,  surveying  numerous 
tracts  of  land  for  the  Transylvania  proprietors,  and  likewise 
making  a  number  of  entries  of  land  for  himself  in  Judge  Hen- 
derson's land  office.24  His  health  finally  became  impaired, 
owing  to  continued  exposure  to  wet  and  cold,  combined  with 
the  frequent  necessity  for  going  without  either  bread  or  salt. 
On  this  account  he  was  compelled  to  return  to  the  settlements 
on  Holston. 

In  July,  1776,  during  his  absence  in  Kentucky,  Shelby  was 
appointed  Captain  of  a  minute  company  by  the  Committee  of 
Safety  in  Virginia.  As  described  by  Shelby  this  was  "a 
species  of  troops  organized  for  the  first  emergency  of  the  War 
of  the  Revolution,  which,  however,  was  not  called  into  actual 
service  from  the  extreme  frontier  on  which  he  (Shelby) 
lived."  On  December  6th  of  this  year,  the  General  Assembly 
of  Virginia  passed  an  act  dividing  the  county  of  Fincastle  into 
three  distinct  counties,  to-wit :  Montgomery,  Washington,  and 
Kentucky.  In  this  act  the  bounds  of  Washington  County 
were  defined  as  follows : 

"That  all  that  part  of  said  county  of  Fincastle  included  in 
the  lines  beginning  at  the  Cumberland  Mountains  where  the 
line  of  Kentucky  county  intersects  the  North  Carolina  (now 
Tennessee)  line;  thence  to  the  east  along  the  said  Carolina 
line  to  the  top  of  Iron  mountain ;  thence  along  the  same  east- 


24in  his  deposition,  referred  to  above,  Isaac  Shelby  stated :  "This 
Deponent  has  made  several  Entries  for  lands  in  Mr.  Henderson's 
Office,  but  does  not  conceive  himself  to  be  in  any  manner  interested  in 
the  Event  of  the  dispute,  between  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia  and 
the  said  Henderson."    Cal.  Ya.  State  Papers,  I,  296-7. 


ISAAC   SHELBY  129 

erly  to  the  source  of  the  South  Fork  of  the  Holston  river; 
thence  northwardly  along  the  highest  part  of  the  highlands, 
ridges,  and  mountains  that  divide  the  waters  of  the  Tennessee 
from  those  of  the  Great  Kanawha  to  the  most  easterly  source 
of  Clinch  River;  thence  westwardly  along  the  top  of  the 
mountain  that  divides  the  waters  of  the  Clinch  river  from 
those  of  the  Great  Kanawha  and  Sandy  Creek  to  the  line  of 
Kentucky  county  and  thence  along  the  same  to  the  beginning, 
shall  be  one  other  distinct  county  and  called  and  known  by 
the  name  of  Washington." 

The  eastern  boundary  of  Washington  County  as  thus  de- 
fined was  altered  by  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  at  its  ses- 
sion in  the  month  of  May,  1777,  as  follows : 

"Beginning  at  a  ford  on  Holston  river,  next  above  Captain 
John  Campbells,  at  the  Royal  Oak,  and  running  from  thence 
a  due  south  course  to  the  dividing  line  between  the  States  of 
Virginia  and  Xorth  Carolina ;  and  from  the  ford  aforesaid 
to  the  westerly  end  of  Morris's  Knob,  about  three  miles  above 
Maiden  Spring  on  Clinch,  and  from  thence,  by  a  line  to  be 
drawn  due  north,  until  it  shall  intersect  the  waters  of  the 
Great  Sandy  river."20 

The  officers  of  the  county  commissioned  by  Governor  Pat- 
rick Henry  on  the  21st  day  of  December,  1776,  were  as  fol- 
lows: James  Dysart,  sheriff;  Arthur  Campbell,  county  lieu- 
tenant ;  Evan  Shelby,  Colonel ;  William  Campbell,  lieutenant- 
colonel  ;  and  Daniel  Smith,  Major.  Among  the  names  of 
those  on  the  same  day  commissioned  justices  of  the  peace  was 
that  of  Evan  Shelby.  The  first  court  assembled  at  Black's 
Fort  (now  Abingdon)  on  the  last  Tuesday  in  January,  1777. 
On  the  second  day  of  the  court,  being  the  29th  of  January, 
Isaac  Shelby  was  recommended,  with  others,  to  be  added  to 
the  Commission  of  Peace  for  the  county,  and  was  accordingly 
commissioned.  It  may  be  interesting  to  record  that,  when,  on 
February  26,  1777,  the  court  recommended  to  the  Governor 
of  Virginia  the  militia  officers  for  Washington  County,  both 


25Hening's  Statutes.  1776. 


130  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

John  Shelby,  Sr.,  and  James  Shelby  were  duly  commissioned 
with  the  rank  of  Captain.  During  some  portion  of  this  time 
Isaac  Shelby  was  busily  engaged  in  acting  as  commissary  of 
supplies,  a  post  to  which  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Henry, 
for  a  large  body  of  militia  posted  at  several  garrisons  for  the 
purpose  of  guarding  the  back  settlements.  Of  his  activity  we 
have  evidence  in  the  great  distances  which  he  travelled.  For 
instance,  in  September  of  this  year,  we  find  him  at  Harrods- 
burgh,  in  Kentucky,  swapping  horses  with  the  future  brilliant 
and  meteoric  figure,  the  conqueror  of  the  Northwest.  In 
Clark's  diary  one  finds  the  following  terse  entry : 

"Harrodsburgh,  September  29. — Bought  a  horse,  price 
£12  ;  swapped  with  I.  Shelby,  boot  £10." 

I  have  often  wondered  who  got  the  "boot" — the  phlegmatic 
Welshman  or  the  mercurial  Virginian ! 

During  this  same  year,  Isaac  Shelby  was  likewise  in- 
structed to  lay  in  supplies  for  a  grand  treaty,  to  be  held  at 
the  Long  Island  of  Holston  River,  in  June  and  July,  with  the 
tribe  of  Cherokee  Indians. 

"These  supplies  could  not  possibly  be  obtained  nearer  than 
Staunton,  a  distance  of  near  three  hundred  miles,"  says 
Shelby,  writing  in  the  third  person,  "but  by  the  most  inde- 
fatigable perseverance  (one  of  the  most  prominent  traits  in 
his  character)  he  accomplished  it  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 
country." 

It  is  necessary  for  us  to  recall  that  in  1772  Colonel  John 
Donelson,  of  Pittsylvania  County,  acting  as  commissioner  for 
Virginia,  had  established  with  the  Cherokees  the  western 
boundary  line  of  that  colony,  viz:  a  course  running  in  a 
direct  line  from  a  point  six  miles  east  of  the  Holston  River 
toward  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Kanawha  River,  until  the  line 
struck  the  Kentucky  River,  and  thence  along  that  river  to  its 
junction  with  the  Ohio.26 


26A  price  was  agreed  upon  and  promised,  but  not  then  paid,  for  the 
large  section  of  Kentucky  north  and  east  of  the  Kentucky  river  thus 
alienated  to  Virginia.  Considerable  doubt  still  prevails  as  to  whether 
the  price  promised  by  Donelson  was  ever  paid  over  to  the  Cherokees. 


ISAAC  SHELBY  131 

In  1777  Governor  Henry,  of  Virginia,  notified  Governor 
Caswell,  of  North  Carolina,  of  a  treaty  to  be  had  with  the 
Cherokees.  The  object  of  Virginia  was  to  alter  the  boundary 
line  as  run  by  Colonel  Donelson,  and  to  have  the  road  to  and 
through  the  Cumberland  Gap,  the  gateway  to  Kentucky,  in- 
cluded in  the  cession.  The  commissioners  chosen  to  represent 
Virginia  were  Col.  William  Preston,  Col.  Evan  Shelby,  and 
Col.  William  Christian,  or  any  two  of  them.  The  commis- 
sioners chosen  to  represent  North  Carolina  were  Col.  Waight- 
still  Avery,  Col.  William  Sharpe,  Col.  Robert  Lanier,  and 
Colonel  Joseph  Winston.  The  treaty  lasted  from  the  26th  of 
June  until  the  20th  of  July,  when  it  was  concluded  to  the 
satisfaction  of  both  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  The  line 
established  by  Donelson  in  1772  was  not  materially  altered ; 
but  the  alteration  involved  the  lands  claimed  by  the  Transyl- 
vania Company  under  their  purchase  from  the  Cherokees  in 
March,  1775.  For  reasons  of  policy  and  because  of  lack  of 
instructions  from  their  respective  governments  the  commis- 
sioners refused  to  take  account  of  the  memorial  presented  by 
Judge  Henderson  and  his  associates.  The  treacherous  and 
wily  Indian  Chiefs  characteristically  sought  to  convince  the 
commissioners  that  Judge  Henderson  had  treated  them  hardly 
in  maintaining  the  provisions  of  the  "Great  Treaty"  of  1775  ; 
but  the  deposition  of  Isaac  Shelby  (already  quoted  from  in 
part)  is  conclusive  on  the  point : 

"That  being  present  at  the  late  Treaty  at  Long  Island,  this 
deponent  remembers  to  have  heard  Occunostoto  or  the  Tassel 
(but  which  he  does  not  recollect)  say  that  ever  since  he  had 
signed  the  paper  to  Mr.  Henderson,  he  was  afraid  to  sign 
one,  and  that  Mr.  Henderson  ever  since  he  had  signed  the 
Paper,  deprived  him  of  the  privilege  of  catching  even  Craw 
fish  on  the  land.  That  this  deponent  was  present  at  the  time 
of  signing  the  said  Deed  at  Wattaugha,  when  everything  was 
conducted  fairly  on  the  part  of  the  said  Henderson,  who  after 
signing,  desired  the  Indians  to  go  and  take  the  goods  which 
he  designed  for  them."27 


27(7aZ.  Va,  State  Papers,  I. 


132  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

This  was  a  memorable  gathering  of  the  leading  pioneer 
figures  of  the  day.  Revolution  was  the  burning  topic  of  dis- 
cussion, and  the  spirit  of  independence,  so  long  held  in  leash, 
found  universal  expression.  In  the  characteristic  phraseology 
of  the  patriotic  Putnam: 

"Here  were  Robertson  and  Sevier,  Boone  and  Bledsoe, 
Shelby,  Henderson,  Hart  and  others — all  men  of  worth,  of 
nerve,  of  enterprise — 'men  who  feared  God,  but  obeyed  no 
earthly  king.' 

"They  talked  freely  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  as 
it  had  been  announced  at  Mecklenburg,  in  North  Carolina,  by 
Patrick  Henry  and  the  Virginians,  and  by  the  Continental 
Congress  just  twelve  months  before.  They  did  not  think  of 
giving  notoriety  out  there  to  the  Fourth  of  July ;  but  they  all 
heartily  concurred  in  the  renunciation  of  allegiance  to  the 
King  of  Great  Britain,  and  in  the  resolution  to  make  'these 
States  free  and  independent.'  "2S 

In  1778,  as  we  learn  from  Shelby's  account,  he  was  still 
engaged  in  the  commissary  department  to  provide  supplies 
for  the  Continental  Army,  and  also  for  a  formidable  expedi- 
tion by  the  way  of  Pittsburg  against  the  Northwestern  In- 
dians. This  was  the  expedition  of  General  Mcintosh  against 
the  Ohio  Indians.  On  Dec.  12,  1778,  the  Virginia  Council 
issued  instructions  to  John  Montgomery  "to  put  on  Foot  the 
recruiting  of  men  to  reinforce  Colo.  Clarke  at  the  Illinois 
and  to  push  it  on  with  all  possible  expedition."29 

George  Rogers  Clark  was  in  desperate  straits  for  men  and 
supplies  in  view  of  the  fact  that  General  Mcintosh's  proposed 
expedition  from  Fort  Pitt  against  Detroit  had  to  be  aban- 
doned. John  Montgomery  was  given  a  very  free  hand  in  re- 
cruiting for  Clark ;  and  the  following  entry  shows  to  what  ex- 
tent Isaac  Shelby  was  relied  upon  to  fit  out  with  supplies 
various  expeditions  along  the  frontier : 

As  soon  as  the  state  of  Affairs  in  the  recruiting  business  will  per- 
mit you  are  to  go  to  the  Ilinois  Country  and  join  Colo  Clarke.    I  need 


^History  of  Middle  Tennessee,  617. 
29ClarJcs  Mss.,  Va.  State  Archives. 


ISAAC   SHELBY  133 

not  tell  you  how  necessary  the  greatest  possible  dispatch  is  to  the 
good  of  the  service  in  which  you  are  engaged  Our  party  at  Ilinois 
may  be  lost  together  with  the  present  favorable  disposition  of  the 
French  &  Indians  there  unless  every  moment  is  improved  for  their 
preservation  &  no  future  oppertunity  if  the  present  is  lost  can  ever  be 
expected  so  favorable  to  the  interest  of  the  Commonwealth.  I  there- 
fore urge  it  on  you  to  exert  yourself  to  the  utmost  to  lose  not  a 
moment  to  forward  the  great  work  you  have  in  hand  &  to  conquer 
every  difficulty  in  your  way  arising  from  inclement  season,  great 
distances,  want  of  many  necessaries,  opposition  from  enemies  & 
others  I  cant  enumerate  but  must  confide  in  your  virtue  to  guard 
against  and  surmount.  Capt  Isaac  Shelby  it  is  desired  may  purchase 
the  boats  but  if  he  cant  do  it  you  must  get  some  other  person 

You  receive  10000  £  Cash  for  Col :  Clarke's  corps  which  you  are  to 
deliver  him  except  200  £  for  Capt  Shelby  to  build  the  boats  &  what 
other  incidental  expences  happen  necessarily  on  your  way  which  are 
to  come  out  of  that  Sum.  I  am  &c. 

A.  Blair  C  C30 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1779  Isaac  Shelby  was  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  Henry  of  Virginia  to  furnish  supplies 
for  a  strong  campaign  against  the  Chickamauga  Indians. 
Owing  to  the  poverty  of  the  treasury,  not  one  cent  could  be 
advanced  by  the  government  and  the  whole  expense  of  the 
supplies  and  the  transportation  was  sustained  by  his  own  in- 
dividual credit.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature  from  Washington 
County,  for  at  that  time  it  was  supposed  his  residence  was 
within  the  chartered  limits  of  North  Carolina. 

Following  the  Treaty  of  Long  Island  in  1777,  already 
spoken  of,  it  was  apparent  to  the  Commissioners  from  North 
Carolina  that  the  settlements,  having  projected  so  far  west- 
ward of  the  point  to  which  the  dividing  line  had  been  run,  it 
was  highly  desirable  that  the  line  be  extended.  In  a  letter 
from  Waightstill  Avery  and  William  Sharpe,  to  Governor 
Caswell,  August  7,  1777,  they  express  the  conviction  that 
"the  extension  of  the  line  between  the  two  States  is  now  be- 
come an  object  worthy  the  immediate  attention  of  govern- 
ment— it  would  be  the  means  of  preventing  many  great  dis- 


zociark  Papers,  83. 


134  THE  NOETH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

putes."31  In  1778  the  Assembly  of  Virginia  and,  a  little 
later,  the  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  passed  similar  acts 
for  extending  and  marking  the  boundary.  The  acting  Com- 
missioners for  North  Carolina  were  Col.  Richard  Henderson, 
his  cousin,  Col.  John  Williams,  of  Granville  County,  and 
Captain  William  Bailey  Smith.  The  Commissioners  repre- 
senting Virginia  were  Dr.  Thomas  Walker,  who  had  made  the 
remarkable  exploration  of  Kentucky  in  1750,  and  Daniel 
Smith,  the  map  maker,  who  was  afterwards  promoted  for 
his  services  along  the  Cumberland.  The  task  of  running  the 
boundary  line  was  regarded  as  a  dangerous  one,  on  account 
of  the  hostile  intentions  of  the  Indians ;  and  each  state  com- 
missioned a  detachment  to  guard  the  Commissioners  while 
they  were  engaged  in  the  arduous  enterprise.  The  Virginia 
Commission  was  provided  with  a  military  escort  of  twenty- 
five  men,  under  the  command  of  Isaac  Shelby,  commissioned 
a  Major  for  that  purpose  by  Governor  Jefferson.32  As  the 
result  of  the  extension  of  the  boundary  line,  the  county  of 
Sullivan  was  erected,  and  Isaac  Shelby,  who  had  recently 
served  in  the  Virginia  Legislature  and  received  a  military 
commission  from  Governor  Jefferson,  was  appointed  Colonel 
Commandant  of  this  new  county  of  Sullivan. 

In  1779  a  court  of  commissioners  with  plenary  powers  was 
created  by  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia  to  adjudicate  with- 
out appeal  upon  the  incipient  land  titles  of  the  country.  Wil- 
liam Fleming,  Edmund  Lyne,  James  Barbour,  and  Stephen 
Trigg,  citizens  of  Virginia  but  not  of  the  county  of  Ken- 
tucky, were  appointed  as  commissioners.  This  court  had 
alternate  sessions  at  St.  Asaph,  Harrodsburg,  Boone sborough, 
the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  and  Bryan's  Station.  The  court  was 
opened  at  St.  Asaph  on  October  13,  1779 ;  and  at  Harrods- 
burg on  February  26,   1780,  the  court  announced  that  its 


sistate  Records  of  North  Carolina,  vol.  II,  pp.  567-S.  Cf.  also  Sum- 
mers S.  W.  Virginia,  pp.  695-6. 

32Cf.  Journal  of  Daniel  Smith,  edited  by  St.  George  L.  Sioussat,  Ten- 
nessee Historical  Magazine,  March,  1915 ;  Kentucky-Tennessee  Bound- 
ary Line,  by  J.  Stoddart  Johnston,  Register  Ky.  State  Hist'l.  Soc'y. 
Sept.,  190S. 


ISAAC   SHELBY  135 

powers  had  elapsed  and  accordingly  adjourned  sine  die. 
Thousands  of  claims,  of  various  kinds,  were  granted  by  the 
court  during  its  existence.  It  was  quite  fitting,  and  in  itself 
an  event  worthy  of  commemoration,  that  the  first  claim  pre- 
sented for  adjudication  was  that  of  Isaac  Shelby,  among  the 
first  on  the  ground  as  surveyor  under  Henderson  and  Com- 
pany, and  later  to  become  the  first  governor  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Kentucky.    The  entry  was  as  follows : 

"Captain  John  Logan  for  and  in  behalf  of  Isaac  Shelby 
this  day  produced  a  claim,  and  making  a  Crop  of  Corn  for 
the  same  in  the  year  1778  Lying  on  a  branch  that  heads  at  the 
Knob  Lick  &  about  a  mile  and  a  half  or  two  Miles  from  the 
said  Lick  a  southeasterly  course,  proof  being  made  satisfac- 
tory to  the  court  they  are  of  Opinion  that  the  said  Shelby  has  a 
right  to  a  settlement  &  Preemption  according  to  law  and  that 
certificates  issue  for  the  same."33 

The  amount  of  land  thus  granted  was  fourteen  hundred 
acres ;  prior  to  this  time  it  would  seem,  Isaac  Shelby  had  per- 
fected no  claims  for  western  lands.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
in  his  deposition  before  Edmund  Randolph  and  Jo.  Prentiss, 
on  December  3,  1777,  regarding  the  Transylvania  lands, 
Isaac  Shelby  states  he  had  "made  several  entries  for  lauds  in 
Mr.  Henderson's  office,  but  does  not  consider  himself  to  be  in 
any  manner  interested  in  the  Event  of  the  dispute,  between 
the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia  and  the  said  Henderson."34 
This  place,  Knob  Lick,  in  what  is  now  Lincoln  County,  Ken- 
tucky, was  settled  in  1776  by  Isaac  Shelby  while  a  surveyor 
under  Henderson  and  Company.  In  the  early  spring  of 
1783,  it  may  be  remarked  in  passing,  Shelby  built  his  house 
upon  the  very  spot  where  he  had  camped  in  1776,  on  the  tract 
of  land  he  had  preempted,  and  upon  which  he  planted  a  crop 
of  corn,  which  he  left  to  be  cultivated  by  a  tenant,  when  he 
himself  went  to  Williamsburg,  then  the  Capital  of  Virginia, 
for  his  appointment  by  Governor  Patrick  Henry  as  a  Captain 


33For  this  copy  I  am  indebted  to  Judge  Samuel  M.  Wilson,  of  Lex- 
ington, Ky. 

34Cal.  Va.  mate  Papers,  I,  pp.  296-7. 


136  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

of  the  Provisional  Army.35  Upon  this  preemption  in  August, 
1786,  Governor  Shelby  built  the  first  stone  house  ever  erected 
in  Kentucky.  This  was  the  famous  residence  known  as 
"Traveler's  Eest."  It  is  recorded  that  the  late  Col.  Nathaniel 
Hart,  of  Woodford  County,  used  to  say  that  when  it  was  re- 
ported that  Col.  Shelby  had  found  stone  suitable  for  building 
purposes,  he  received  many  letters  from  various  portions  of 
the  United  States  inquiring  if  it  could  possibly  be  there;  as 
well  as  many  visits  to  verify  the  fact,  some  from  as  great  a 
distance  as  Mason  County.  The  real  scarcity  of  stone  then 
seems  almost  incredible  now— in  view  of  the  unlimited  supply 
visible  on  all  sides;  but  was  doubtless  due  to  the  luxurious 
growth  of  cane,  and  to  the  heavy  foliage  which  so  thoroughly 
covered  the  ground  when  it  fell.36 

During  the  summer  of  1780,  while  he  was  locating  and  se- 
curing his  claims  made  under  the  Transylvania  Company, 
Shelby  with  his  company  spent  some  time  among  the  North- 
western Indians — Piankeshaws,  Pottawattamies,  and  Miamis. 
In  his  Memoir,  George  Rogers  Clark  makes  the  following 
amusing  entry : 

"The  ensuing  summer  (1780),  Captain  I.  Shelby,  with 
his  own  company  only,  lay  for  a  considerable  time  in  the 
heart  of  their  (the  Indians')  country,  and  was  treated  in  the 
most  friendly  manner  by  all  the  natives  that  he  saw,  and  was 
frequently  invited  by  them  to  join  and  plunder  what  was 
called  'the  King's  Pasture  at  Detroit.'  What  they  meant  was 
to  go  and  steal  horses  from  that  settlement."37 

What  a  lark  that  would  have  been  for  the  staid  and  phleg- 
matic Shelby! 

While  still  in  Kentucky,  in  the  summer  of  1780,  Shelby 
received  intelligence  (June  16)  of  the  surrender  of  Charles- 
ton and  the  loss  of  the  army.  He  made  haste  to  return  home 
(the  first  part  of  July),  as  he  himself  says,  "determined  to 
enter  the  service  of  his  country,  until  her  independence  was 


35Draper's  Kings  Mountain,  412  ;  Shelby's  Autobiography. 
36Collins'  History  of  Kentucky  (1882),  i,  514. 
37Englisli's  Conquest  of  the  Northwest,  I,  549. 


ISAAC  SHELBY  137 

secured;  for  he  could  not  remain  a  cool  spectator  of  a  con- 
quest in  which  his  dearest  rights  and  interests  were  at  stake." 
The  story  of  the  events  which  immediately  succeeded  this  de- 
termination is  best  told  in  his  own  words : 

"On  his  arrival  in  Sullivan  he  joined  a  requisition  from 
General  Charles  McDowell,  ordering  him  to  furnish  all  the 
aid  in  his  power,  to  assist  in  giving  a  check  to  the  enemy,  who 
had  overrun  the  two  Southern  States  and  were  then  on  the 
border  of  J^orth  Carolina.  Col.  Shelby  assembled  the  Militia 
of  his  County,  called  upon  them  to  volunteer  their  services 
for  a  short  period  on  that  interesting  occasion,  and  marched 
in  a  very  few  days  with  near  two  hundred  mounted  riflemen 
across  the  Alleghany  Mountain. 

"Shortly  after  his  arrival  at  McDowell's  camp  the  army 
moved  to  near  the  Cherokee  Ford  of  Broad  River,  from 
whence  Col.  Shelby  and  Lieut.  Col.  Clark  of  Georgia  were 
detached  with  five  hundred  mounted  men38  to  attack  a  British 
Fort,  about  twenty  miles  to  the  South,  which  was  garrisoned 
principally  by  Loyalists.  Col.  Shelby  left  McDowell's  camp 
late  in  the  evening  and  arrived  at  the  enemies  Post  just  after 
daylight  the  next  morning39  which  he  found  to  be  enclosed  by 
a  strong  Abbatus  (abatis),  and  everything  within,  indicating 
resistance.  He  however  made  a  peremptory  demand  of  a  sur- 
render, when  Capt.  Patrick  Moor,  who  commanded  returned 
for  answer  that  he  would  defend  the  Post  to  the  last  extrem- 
ity.40 Our  lines  were  then  drawn  to  within  a  distance  of 
about  two  hundred  yards  around  the  Garrison,  with  a  determ- 
ination to  storm  it.  He  however  sent  a  messenger  a  second 
time  to  demand  a  surrender  before  he  would  proceed  to  ex- 
tremities. To  this  the  enemy  agreed  to  give  up  the  Post,  on 
their  being  Paroled  not  to  serve  again  during  the  war;  or 
until  they  were  regularly  exchanged.    In  it  were  found  ninety- 


38Shelby's  figures  are  never  conspicuous  for  accuracy.  The  detach- 
ment in  this  instance  consisted  of  some  six  hundred  horsemen. 

3»Sunday,  July  30.     Cf.  Allaire's  Diary. 

40The  person  sent  in  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  post  was 
Captain  William  Cocke,  who  made  the  daring  ride  for  Col.  Richard 
Henderson  in  April,  1775. 


138  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

two  Loyalists,  with  one  British  subbolten  (subaltern)  officer 
left  there  to  discipline  them,  also  two  hundred  and  fifty  stand 
of  arms,  well  charged  with  ball  and  buckshot  and  well  dis- 
posed of  at  the  different  port  holes.  This  was  a  strong  post 
built  for  defense  in  the  Cherokee  war  of  '76  and  stood  on  a 
branch  of  a  small  river  called  Pacolet. 

aShortly  after  this  affair  and  his  return  to  McDowell's 
camp  Shelby  and  Clark  were  again  detached  with  six  hun- 
dred mounted  men  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  Enemy, 
and  if  possible  to  cut  up  his  foraging  parties.  Ferguson  who 
commanded  the  Enemy  about  two  thousand  five  hundred 
strong,41  composed  of  British  and  Tories,  with  a  small  squad- 
ron of  British  Horse,  was  an  officer  of  great  enterprise  and 
although  only  a  Major  in  the  British  line,  was  a  Brigadier 
General  in  the  royal  militia  establishment  made  by  the  enemy 
after  he  had  overrun  South  Carolina,  and  esteemed  the  most 
distinguished  partisan  officer  belonging  to  the  British  army. 
He  made  several  attempts  to  surprise  Col.  Shelby,  but  his  de- 
signs were  always  baffled.  On  the  first42  of  August  however, 
his  advance,  about  six  or  seven  hundred  strong,  came  up  with 
the  American  Commander  at  a  place  he  had  chosen  to  fight 
him,  called  Cedar  Spring;  when  a  sharp  conflict  ensued 
which  lasted  about  half  an  hour ;  when  Ferguson  came  up 
with  his  whole  force.  The  Americans  then  retreated,  carry- 
ing off  the  field  of  battle  about  twenty  prisoners  and  two 
British  Subalterns.43  Their  killed  was  not  ascertained.  The 
Americans  lost  eight  killed  and  upwards  of  thirty  wounded, 
mostly  with  the  sabre  officers.  The  Enemy  made  great  efforts 
for  several  miles  to  regain  the  prisoners,  but  by  forming  fre- 
quently on  advantageous  ground  apparently  to  give  them 
battle  the  enemy  were  retarded  in  their  pursuit,  so  that  the 
prisoners  were  pushed  out  of  their  reach.    General  McDowell 


41  Shelby's  original  statement  in  Haywood's  Tennessee  is  that  the 
enemy  numbered  about  two  thousand ;  it  may  have  been  as  small  a 
number  as  eighteen  hundred. 

42The  date  is  correctly  given  in  Allaire's  Diary  as  August  eighth. 

43in  Todd's  Memoir  of  Shelby  the  number  of  prisoners  taken  is 
increased  from  twenty  to  fifty. 


ISAAC  SHELBY  139 

having  by  some  means  got  information  that  a  party  from  four 
to  six  hundred  Loyalists  were  encamped  near  Musgrove's 
Mill,  on  the  South  Side  of  the  Enoree  River,  about  forty 
miles  distant;  he  again  detached  Col.  Shelby,  Williams  and 
Clark  with  about  seven  hundred  horsemen,44  to  surprise  and 
disperse  them.  Ferguson  with  his  whole  force  was  encamped 
at  that  time  on  their  most  direct  route.  The  American  com- 
manders took  up  their  line  of  march  from  Smith's  Ford  on 
Broad  river  (where  McDowell's  army  was  then  encamped) 
just  at  sundown  on  the  evening  of  the  18th45  August  1780 — 
marched  through  the  woods  till  after  dark,  and  then  took  a 
road  leaving  Ferguson's  camp  about  three  miles  to  the  left. 
They  rode  very  hard  all  night,  the  greatest  part  of  the  way  in 
a  fast  travelling  gait,  and  just  at  the  dawn  of  day,  about  half 
a  mile  from  the  Enemy's  camp,  met  a  strong  patrol  party,  a 
short  skirmish  ensued,  and  several  of  them  were  killed.  At 
that  juncture  a  countryman  living  immediately  at  the  spot, 
came  up  and  informed,  that  the  enemy  had  been  reinforced 
the  evening  before,  with  six  hundred  regular  troops  (the 
Queens  American  regiment  from  New  York)  under  Col. 
Ennes,  destined  to  reinforce  Ferguson's  army;  and  the  cir- 
cumstances attending  this  information  were  so  minute  and 
particular,  that  no  doubt  was  entertained  of  its  truth  although 
the  man  was  a  Tory.46  To  march  on  and  attack  the  enemy 
then  seemed  improper.  To  attempt  an  escape  from  the  enemy 
in  the  rear  appeared  improbable,  broke  down  as  were  the 
Americans  and  their  horses;  for  it  was  well  known  to  them 
that  the  enemy  could  mount  six  or  seven  hundred  infantry 
with  horses  of  the  Loyalists.     They  instantly  determined  to 


44R  is  probable  that  the  American  forces  numbered  only  from  two 
hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred  and  fifty.  Probably  the  British 
originally  numbered  approximately  six  hundred. 

45The  weight  of  authority  favors  the  seventeenth,  the  battle  occurr- 
ing on  the  eighteenth. 

46it  is  probable  that  this  statement  with  respect  to  the  number  of 
British  was  a  considerable  exaggeration.  Gov.  Abner  Nash,  writing 
Sept.  10,  17S0,  gives  Williams'  force  as  two  hundred  and  the  British 
as  four  hundred.  The  name  of  the  commander  of  the  British  re- 
inforcement, was  Innes,  not  Ennes. 

—3 


140  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

form  a  breastwork  of  old  logs  and  brush  near  the  spot,  and 
make  the  best  defense  in  their  power;  for  by  this  time  the 
drums  and  bugle  horns  of  the  enemy  were  distinctly  heard  in 
their  camp  on  the  high  ground  across  the  river,  and  soon  in- 
dicated their  movements.  Captain  Inman  was  sent  with 
twenty-five  men,  to  meet  the  enemy  and  skirmish  with  them, 
so  soon  as  they  crossed  the  Enoree  River  Capt.  Inman  was 
ordered  to  fire  on  them,  and  retreat  according  to  his  own  dis- 
cretion. This  strategem  (which  was  the  suggestion  of  the 
Capt.  himself)  drew  the  enemy  forward  in  disorder,  believing 
they  had  driven  our  whole  party;  and  when  they  came  up 
within  seventy  yards  a  most  destructive  fire  commenced  from 
our  Riflemen  who  lay  concealed  behind  their  breastwork  of 
pine  logs  and  brush,  which  was  near  half  a  mile  long.47  It 
was  one  whole  hour  before  the  enemy  could  force  our  Rifle- 
men from  their  slender  breastwork.  Just  as  they  began  to 
give  way  in  some  parts,  Col.  Ennes  was  badly  wounded ;  and 
all  the  other  British  officers  except  one  being  previously  killed 
or  wounded ;  and  Capt.  Hawsey  a  considerable  leader  among 
the  Loyalists  being  shot  down;  the  whole  of  the  enemy's  line 
began  to  give  way,  the  Americans  pursued  them  close,  and 
beat  them  across  the  river  with  slaughter.48  In  this  pursuit 
Capt.  Inman  was  killed  bravely  fighting  the  enemy  hand  to 
hand.  In  this  action  Col.  Shelby  commanded  the  right 
wing,  Clark  the  left  and  Williams  the  center.  The  Americans 
returned  to  their  horses  and  mounted  with  a  determination  to 
be  in  ISTinety-Six  (at  that  time  a  weak  British  Post)  before 
night ;  it  being  less  than  thirty  miles  distant  according  to  in- 
formation then  received.  At  that  moment  an  express  from 
G-en'l  McDowell  (one  Erancis  Jones)  came  up  in  great  haste 
with  a  short  letter  in  his  hand  from  Governor  Caswell,  dated 
on  the  battle  ground  near  Camden  apprising  McDowell  of 


47The  Americans  had  been  cautioned  to  reserve  their  fire  "till  they 
could  see  the  buttons  on  the  enemies'  clothes." 

48William  Smith  of  Watauga,  whose  bullet  had  struck  down  Innes, 
exultantly  exclaimed :  "I've  killed  their  commander,"  whereupon 
Shelby  "rallied  his  men  who  raised  a  regular  frontier  Indian  yell  and 
rushed  furiously  upon  the  enemy,  who  were  gradually  forced  back 
before  the  exasperated  riflemen."    Cf.  Draper's  Kings  Mountain,  108. 


ISAAC  SHELBY  141 

the  defeat  of  the  American  grand  army  under  Gen'l  Gates,  on 
the  16th  near  that  place,  advising  him  to  get  out  of  the  way, 
for  that  army  would  no  doubt  endeavor  to  improve  their  vic- 
tory to  the  greatest  advantage  by  cutting  up  all  the  small  corps 
of  the  American  armies  within  their  reach.  It  was  fortunate 
that  Col.  Shelby  had  some  knowledge  of  Governor  Caswell's 
handwriting  and  knew  what  reliance  to  place  upon  it ;  but  how 
to  avoid  the  enemy  in  his  rear,  broke  down  with  fatigue  as  his 
men  and  horses  were,  with  upwards  of  two  hundred  prisoners 
(mostly  British)  taken  in  the  action — was  a  difficult  task. 
The  loss  in  killed  of  the  enemy  was  not  ascertained  owing  to 
the  sudden  manner  in  which  the  Americans  were  obliged  to 
leave  the  battle  ground,  but  must  have  been  very  great,  from 
the  incessant  fire  that  was  poured  upon  them  by  our  Riflemen 
for  considerably  more  than  an  hour.  Our  loss  did  not  exceed 
nine  or  ten,  as  the  enemy  generally  overshot  the  breast- 
work.49 The  prisoners  were  distributed  amongst  the  com- 
panies, so  as  to  make  about  one  to  every  three  men,  who  car- 
ried them  alternately  on  horseback  directly  towards  the  moun- 
tains. We  continued  our  march  all  that  day,  the  night  follow- 
ing and  the  next  day  until  late  in  the  evening,  without  ever 
stopping  to  refresh.50  This  long  and  rapid  retreat  saved  the 
Americans,  for  it  is  a  fact  that,  De  Peyster  second  in  com- 
mand of  Ferguson's  army,  pursued  them  with  seven  hundred 
mounted  men  to  the  place  where  they  had  foraged  and  re- 
freshed themselves  in  the  evening  of  the  second  day  after  the 
action;  and  having  arrived  there  half  an  hour  after  our  de- 
parture, at  dusk,  so  broke  down  by  excessive  fatigue  in  hot 
weather,  he  gave  up  the  chase.51    Having  seen  the  party  and 


49Draper  says :  "four  killed  and  eight  or  nine  wounded."  The 
British  loss,  according  to  the  same  authority,  was  eighty-three  killed, 
about  ninety  wounded,  and  seventy  prisoners — a  total  of  two  hundred 
and  twenty-three  out  of  between  four  hundred  to  five  hundred — an 
unusually  high  percentage  of  loss. 

50This  is  an  admirable  illustration  of  the  indomitable  persistence 
and  strenuous  energy  of  Shelby. 

siNote  B  at  end  of  Shelby's  Ms.  is  as  follows :  "This  information 
Col.  Shelby  received  from  De  Peyster  himself  after  he  was  captured 
at  Kings  Mountain  in  October  following."  Draper  pronounces  this  an 
error  on  the  authority  of  Fanning,  the  Tory  annalist,  who  asserts  that 
on  the  night  after  the  battle  De  Peyster  accompanied  him  from  Mus- 
grove's  Mill  to  Ninety  Six. 


142  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

the  prisoners  out  of  all  danger  Col.  Shelby  retreated  over  the 
Western  waters  with  his  followers,  and  left  the  prisoners  with 
Clark  and  Williams  to  carry  them  on  to  some  place  of  safety 
in  Virginia.  So  great  was  the  panic  after  Gen'l  Gates'  de- 
feat, and  Gen.  Sumpter's  disaster,  that  McDowell's  whole 
army  broke.  Some  retreated  west  of  the  mountains,  and  others 
went  to  the  North.  This  action  which  lasted  one  hour  and  a 
half  and  fought  so  shortly  after  the  defeat  of  our  grand  army, 
is  scarcely  known  in  the  history  of  the  Revolution.52  Fergu- 
son too,  made  a  hard  push  with  his  main  army  to  intercept 
and  retake  the  prisoners  before  they  could  reach  the  moun- 
tains, but  finding  his  efforts  vain,  he  took  post  at  a  place  called 
Gilbert  Town." 

News  of  the  disastrous  reverse  to  General  Gates  and  the 
American  army  at  Camden,  on  August  16,  1780,  and  of  the 
defeat  of  General  Sumter  which  followed  shortly  afterwards, 
produced  the  immediate  effect  of  spreading  universal  conster- 
nation and  alarm.  The  various  bodies  of  Whig  Militia  were 
forced  to  scatter  in  all  directions.  From  his  post  at  Gilbert 
Town,  Ferguson  paroled  a  prisoner,  one  Samuel  Philips,  a 
distant  relation  of  Isaac  Shelby's,  and  "-Instructed  him  to  in- 
form the  officers  on  the  Western  waters,  that  if  they  did  not 
desist  from  their  opposition  to  the  British  arms,  and  take  pro- 
tection under  his  standard,  he  would  march  his  army  over  the 
mountains,  and  lay  their  army  waste  with  fire  and  sword."53 
Immediately  following  the  affair  at  Musgrove's  Mill,  Shelby, 
with  the  approbation  of  Major  Robertson,  had  proposed  that 
an  army  of  volunteers  be  raised  on  both  sides  of  the  moun- 
tains for  the  purpose  of  resisting  Ferguson's  advance.  At 
the  time  the  concensus  of  opinion  heartily  favored  Shelby's 
proposal.    As  soon  as  Shelby  received  Ferguson's  threatening 


52Shelby  elsewhere  describes  the  battle  as  "the  hardest  and  best 
fought  action  he  ever  was  in" — attributing  this  valor  and  persistency 
to  "the  great  number  of  officers  who  were  with  him  as  volunteers." 

53General  Joseph  Graham's  account  in  General  Joseph  Graham,  and 
His  Revolutionary  Papers,  by  W.  A.  Graham,  1904.  This  account 
originally  appeared  in  the  Southern  Literary  Messenger,  September, 
1S45.    Compare,  also,  Draper's  Kings  Mountain,  p.  169. 


ISAAC  SHELBY  143 

and  insulting  message,  he  set  in  train  a  course  of  events 
which  were  the  reverse  of  the  result  aimed  at  by  Ferguson. 
The  letter  instead  of  having  a  deterrent  and  intimidating 
effect  upon  Shelby,  only  fired  to  immediate  execution  the  de- 
termination which  he  had  already  reached  to  arouse  the  fierce 
mountain  men  to  action.  Without  delay,  Shelby  rode  off 
about  forty  miles  to  see  John  Sevier,  the  efficient  commander 
of  the  militia  of  Washington  County,  at  his  home  near  Jones- 
borough.  Here,  after  his  ride  in  feverish  haste,  he  found  Se- 
vier in  the  midst  of  great  festivities — a  horse  race  was  in 
progress,  and  the  people  in  crowds  were  in  attendance  at  the 
barbecue.  Angered  by  the  insolent  taunt  of  Ferguson,  Shelby 
vehemently  declared  that  this  was  a  time,  not  for  a  frolic,  but 
for  a  fight.  Sevier,  the  daring  and  adventurous,  eagerly 
seconded  Shelby's  proposal  to  arouse  the  mountain  men,  to 
cooperate  with  other  forces  that  might  be  raised,  and  to  make 
an  effort  to  attack,  by  surprise,  and  to  defeat  Ferguson  in  his 
camp ;  if  this  were  not  practicable,  to  unite  with  any  corps  of 
patriots  with  which  they  might  meet  and  wage  war  against 
the  enemies  of  America ;  and  in  the  event  of  failure,  with  the 
consequent  desolation  of  their  homes,  to  take  water,  float  down 
the  Holston,  Tennessee,  Ohio,  and  Mississippi  rivers  and  find 
a  home  with  the  Spaniards  in  Louisiana.54  For  two  days 
Shelby  remained  in  consultation  with  Sevier;  the  Sycamore 
Shoals  of  the  Watauga  was  agreed  upon  as  the  rendezvous  for 
their  forces,  and  the  time  of  meeting  the  twenty-fifth  of  Sep- 
tember. A  small  force  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  men,  under 
Colonel  Charles  McDowell  and  Colonel  Andrew  Hampton, 
driven  before  the  enemy,  had  encamped  at  Watauga  on  Sep- 
tember 18th;  and  their  "doleful  tale,"  as  Col.  Arthur  Camp- 
bell expressed  it,  still  further  "tended  to  excite  the  resentment 
of  the  western  militia."  Sevier  undertook  to  bring  this  force 
into  the  movement ;  and  Isaac  Shelby  sent  his  brother  Moses, 
who  held  the  rank  of  Captain,  with  a  message  to  Colonel  Wil- 
liam Campbell,  of  the  neighboring  county  of  Washington, 


5*Life  of  General  John  Sevier,  by  F.  M.  Turner ;  pp.  10S-9.    Draper's 
Kings  Mountain,  p.  170. 


144  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

urgently  requesting  his  cooperation.  Campbell  had  other 
plans  on  foot;  but  upon  the  receipt  of  a  second  and  more 
urgent  message  from  Shelby,  he  acquiesced  in  the  latter's  plan 
for  the  attack  on  Ferguson.  Shelby  likewise  despatched  a 
messenger,  a  Mr.  Adair,  to  the  County  Lieutenant  of  Wash- 
ington County,  Colonel  Arthur  Campbell,  the  cousin  and 
brother-in-law  of  William  Campbell,  requesting  his  coopera- 
tion. Arthur  Campbell  had  just  returned  from  a  conference 
with  Governor  Jefferson,  and  was  in  a  mood  to  act,  as  the 
Governor  had  pressed  upon  him  the  need  for  a  more  vigorous 
resistance  to  the  enemy.  Campbell  sent  word  back  that  "if 
the  western  counties  of  North  Carolina  could  raise  a  force  to 
join  Col.  McDowell's  men,  that  the  officers  of  Washington 
County  would  cooperate."55 


ssKings  Mountain — A  Fragment,  by  Col.  Arthur  Campbell. 


145 


The  Old  Cemetery,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

Some  Unusual   Notations  Concerning  this  Ancient 

Burial  Place,  which  Holds  the  Dust  of  Many 

Patriots  of  Fame  in  North  Carolina 


By  Violet  G.  Alexander. 


A  complete  record  of  this  ancient  burial  ground  is  not  ex- 
istant  today,  but  it  is  known  to  be  one  of  the  oldest  graveyards 
in  Xorth  Carolina,  guarding  in  its  bosom  the  dust  of  many 
patriots,  men  and  women,  with  their  little  children,  once 
prominent  in  the  life  of  the  county  and  the  State. 

It  has  been  called  "the  graveyard  of  the  Presbyterian 
church"  (Hunter's  Sketches  of  Western  North  Carolina, 
pages  50-59)  and  there  is  probably  a  reason  for  this  title,  for 
in  the  early  days  of  this  community,  what  is  today  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  was  the  only  church  in  Charlotte,  and 
was  built  for  all  denominations ;  but  at  that  date  the  Presby- 
terian denomination  was  the  only  one  in  evidence,  so  after 
some  years  of  so-called  "general  use"  the  Presbyterians  paid 
a  small  debt  of  $1,500  and  took  over  the  church  and  beautiful 
oak  grove  occupying  a  city  square.  As  was  the  custom  in  those 
early  days,  a  graveyard  was  laid  off  adjacent  to  the  church 
and  was  used  as  a  common  burying  ground.  This  one  lies  im- 
mediately in  the  rear  of  the  Presbyterian  church  occupying 
almost  a  city  square  and  as  it  was  laid  off  in  connection  with 
the  church  has  frequently  been  called  "the  graveyard  of  the 
Presbyterian  church." 

The  "Old  Cemetery,"  as  it  is  now  more  generally  called, 
was  the  first  graveyard  in  Charlotte,  the  "Spratt  Burying 
Ground"  antedating  it  some  years,  was  a  private  one  outside 
the  town  limits  in  early  days.  The  "Old  Cemetery"  was  used 
as  the  "town"  cemetery  until  a  few  years  prior  to  the  War 
Between  the  States,  about  1854,  the  date  of  the  first  inter- 
ment in  "Elm wood,"  the  present  large  city  cemetery,  when, 


146  THE  NOETH  CAKOLHSTA  BOOKLET 

on  account  of  its  small  size  and  crowded  condition,  it  was 
closed  for  burials,  and  "Elmwood"  was  opened. 

Interments  "by  special  permit"  to  allow  members  of  fam- 
ilies to  be  buried  by  those  of  their  name,  have  taken  place  as 
late  as  during  the  '70s.  One  of  the  last  was  that  of  Mrs. 
Sophie  Graham  Witherspoon,  widow  of  Dr.  John  Wither- 
spoon and  daughter  of  General  Joseph  Graham,  a  beautiful, 
gifted,  and  beloved  woman,  worthy  of  her  splendid  ancestry, 
who  today  has  a  host  of  relatives  in  Charlotte  to  "rise  up 
and  call  her  blessed." 

]STo  complete  list  of  those  who  have  been  buried  here  is 
available,  as  no  record  was  kept,  and  the  tombs  of  many  have 
disappeared  from  age  or  neglect,  but  a  partial  list  has  been 
gleaned  from  the  tombstones  still  standing,  which  contains  the 
names  of  the  following  well-known  and  honored  families: 
Alexander,  Davidson,  Graham,  Witherspoon,  Polk,  Irwin, 
Carson,  Orr,  Harty,  Clayton,  Houston,  Berryhill,  Blair,  Cald- 
well, Dunlap,  Watson,  Lowrie,  Wilson,  Gillespie,  Elms, 
Trotter,  Ray,  Woodruff,  Britton,  McLelland,  Howell,  Sloan, 
Morrow,  Cook,  Lemmuel,  Badger,  Sterling,  Jones,  Owens, 
Thomas,  McRee,  Tredinick,  Kearney,  Caruth,  Asbury,  Hos- 
kins,  Boyd,  Springs,  Laurey,  Meacham,  Dixon,  McCombs, 
Edwards,  Howie,  Wheeler,  and  Dinkins. 

This  incomplete  list  is  one  of  the  "honor-rolls"  of  Mecklen- 
burg County,  recording  the  fair  names  of  some  of  her  bravest 
sons  and  loveliest  daughters,  who  in  their  brief  day  acted  well 
their  part  and  laid  the  safe  foundation  of  Church  and  State 
which  is  today  the  goodly  heritage  of  Charlotte.  Lack  of 
space  prevents  individual  mention  of  many  whose  names  and 
lives  are  indelibly  linked  with  North  Carolina's  history  nor 
are  we  permitted  to  quote  the  quaint  epitaphs  and  inscrip- 
tions found  on  many  of  the  tombstones. 

Three  men  of  considerable  fame  and  who  stand  large  in 
North  Carolina  history  are  buried  in  the  "Old  Cemetery" 
and  deserve  a  more  extended  notice:  Governor  Nathaniel 
Alexander,  Colonel  Thomas  Polk,  and  General  George  Gra- 
ham. 


THE   OLD   CEMETERY,    CHARLOTTE,    N.    C.  147 

Governor  Nathaniel  Alexander  is  the  only  Governor  Meck- 
lenburg County  has  ever  had  and  his  last  resting  place  should 
be  guarded  with  affection  and  pride,  for  he  was  honored  and 
beloved  by  his  contemporaries  as  is  attested  by  the  many 
positions  of  trust  he  filled.  Foote,  in  his  History  of  Western 
North  Carolina,  page  267,  has  the  following: 

"Nathaniel  Alexander,  late  Governor  of  North  Carolina, 
was  a  native  of  Mecklenburg.  He  was  a  physician  by  profes- 
sion and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons 
from  Mecklenburg  in  1797,  a  member  of  the  Senate  in  1801, 
and  reelected  in  1802.  In  1803-1805  he  was  a  member  of 
Congress,  and  in  1805  elected  Governor  of  the  State.  He 
married  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Thomas  Polk.  He  left  no 
children.  He  was  a  man  of  much  personal  worth  and  re- 
spectable talents.    He  died  and  lies  buried  in  Charlotte." 

Governor  Alexander  was  a  son  of  Colonel  Moses  Alexander, 
a  distinguished  Revolutionary  patriot,  who  also  rendered 
large  services  to  his  country.  Governor  Alexander's  wife 
(Margaret  Polk),  was  also  of  patriotic  blood,  a  woman  of 
many  fine  traits  and  splendid  characteristics,  as  is  evidenced 
by  the  fact  that  she  was  one  of  that  brilliant  company  of  young 
ladies  of  Mecklenburg  County  who  drew  up  and  signed  the 
famous  patriotic  Resolutions  and  sent  them  to  Salisbury  to 
the  Committee  in  session  there  representing  Rowan  and 
Mecklenburg  counties  on  May  8,  1776.  For  a  full  account  of 
this  patriotic  deed  read  Hunter's  Sketches  of  Western  North 
Carolina,  pages  144-145.  It  would  appear  from  this  action 
of  the  women  of  Mecklenburg  County  in  May,  1776 — still 
some  months  prior  to  July  4,  1776 — that  they  were  fired  with 
the  same  fearless  patriotism  which  prompted  the  men  of 
Mecklenburg  County  to  draw  up  and  sign  the  Mecklenburg 
Declaration  of  Independence  on  the  previous  May  20,  1775  ! ! 

Governor  Alexander  and  his  wife  are  buried  in  the  "Old 
Cemetery"  and  we  find  the  following  inscriptions  on  their 
tombs. 


148  THE   NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET 

Sacred 

To  the  Memory  of 

Doc'r  Nathaniel  Alexander 

Late  Governor  of  No.  Carolina 

who  departed  this  life  on  the 

7th  day  of  March  1808 
in  the  52nd  year  of  his  age. 

By  his  side  lies  buried  his  wife,  with  this  inscription  on 
her  tomb: 

Sacred 

To  the  Memory  of 

Margaret  Alexander 

Wife  of 

Doctor  Alexander 

and  daughter  of 

Thomas  and  Susannah  Polk 

who  departed  this  life  on  the 

12th  day  of  Sept.  1806 

in  the  42nd  year  of  her  age. 

Turning  now  to  Colonel  Thomas  Polk,  we  again  quote  from 
the  historian,  Foote,  pages  5-10,  who  says:  "Col.  Thomas 
Polk  and  his  wife  Susanna  Spratt  Polk,  lie  buried  in  the 
graveyard  of  the  village  (Charlotte)."  Colonel  Polk  was  one 
of  the  ablest  and  most  patriotic  men  Mecklenburg  County — 
famous  for  her  patriots — has  ever  borne.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Colonial  Assembly  in  1771  and  again  in  1775.  In 
1775  he  was  Colonel  of  the  Mecklenburg  Militia  and  issued 
orders  to  the  Captains  of  the  several  "beats,"  or  districts,  to 
send  two  (2)  delegates  each  to  the  Convention  held  in  Char- 
lotte on  its  regular  day  of  meeting,  May  19,  1775.  It  was  on 
this  day,  while  the  Convention  was  in  session,  that  the  news  of 
the  Battle  of  Lexington  (Mass.)  reached  Charlotte,  and  the 
citizens,  already  aggrieved  and  incensed,  became  so  indignant 
that  Eesolutions  were  drawn  up  and  signed  on  May  20,  1775, 
declaring  independence  of  Great  Britain.  Colonel  Polk  was 
a  delegate  to  the  Convention  and  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  and  had  the  honor  by  right  of 
his  official  capacity  as  Colonel  of  the  Militia,  of  reading  the 
famous  document  publicly  from  the  courthouse  steps  to  the 


THE   OLD   CEMETERY,    CHARLOTTE,    N.    C.  149 

assembled  citizens.  Colonel  Polk  was  appointed  Colonel  of 
the  Fourth  Regiment,  Continental  Troops  by  the  Provincial 
Congress  at  Halifax,  N".  C,  April  4,  1776.  After  the  death 
of  General  William  Lee  Davidson  at  Cowan's  Ford,  he  was 
appointed  Brigadier-General  in  his  stead.  Mrs.  Polk  was  a 
daughter  of  Thomas  Spratt,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
western  North  Carolina,  who  was  the  first  man  to  "cross  the 
Yadkin  River  on  wheels" — vehicles  in  those  primitive  days 
being  rare ;  he  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  influential 
citizens  of  Mecklenburg  and  it  was  at  his  home  where  the 
first  court  was  held  prior  to  the  building  of  the  first  court- 
house. Mrs.  Polk's  sister,  Ann  Spratt,  was  the  first  white 
child  born  in  Western  North  Carolina,  and  her  grave  is  in  the 
old  "Spratt  burying  ground."  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Polk  had  an 
interesting  family,  many  of  whose  descendents  are  prominent 
in  the  life  of  the  community  today.  Hunter's  Sketches  of 
Western  North  Carolina,  page  55,  tells  us  that  "he  (Colonel 
Polk)  died  in  1793,  full  of  years  and  full  of  honors,  and  his 
mortal  remains  repose  in  the  graveyard  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  Charlotte." 

Their  son,  William  Polk,  also  a  distinguished  patriot, 
erected  a  memorial  marble  over  the  last  resting  place  of  his 
parents  as  a  tribute  of  filial  love  and  esteem.  On  it  we  read 
this  beautiful  testimony : 

Here  lies  inter'd 

The  Earthly  remains  of 

General  Thomas  Polk 

and  his  wife 

Susanna  Polk 

who  lived  many  years  together 

justly  beloved  and  respected 

for  their  many  virtues 

And  universally  regretted  by  all 

who  had  the  pleasure  of  their 

acquaintance. 

Their  Son 

William  Polk 

As  a  token  of  his  filial  regard 

hath  caused  this  stone  to  be 

Erected  to  their  Memory. 


150  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Some  years  ago  it  was  the  custom  on  each  20th  of  May  for 
a  "Special  Committee"  of  citizens  to  visit  the  "Old  Cemetery" 
and  decorate  Colonel  Polk's  grave  with  flags  and  flowers  in 
loving  memory  of  his  patriotism  as  Signer  and  Public  Reader 
of  Mecklenburg's  Declaration.  Today  this  loyal  tribute  has 
fallen  into  disuse,  but  the  writer  hopes  to  see  it  revived  and 
again  become  an  annual  custom. 

General  George  Graham  is  the  third  distinguished  patriot 
buried  in  the  "Old  Cemetery"  of  whom  we  shall  write.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  conspicuously  brave  and  daring  men 
North  Carolina  has  ever  produced,  a  man  with  a  notable 
record  for  heroism  as  is  strikingly  recounted  in  the  remarkable 
inscription  on  his  tombstone.  He  was  the  son  of  Scotch-Irish 
parents,  James  and  Mary  Graham,  and  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, December  5,  1752,  moving  to  North  Carolina  with  his 
widowed  mother  when  about  ten  years  of  age.  His  mother 
was  a  woman  of  strong  character  and  fine  patriotism,  aiding 
her  countrymen  in  their  struggle  for  freedom  and  giving  to 
the  cause  two  sons,  General  Joseph  Graham  and  General 
George  Graham.  She  is  buried  in  the  "Old  Cemetery,"  near 
the  grave  of  her  son,  George.  He  was  one  of  the  students  of 
"Queen's  Museum"  (afterwards  Liberty  Hall)  and  was  in 
Charlotte  and  present  at  the  reading  of  the  Mecklenburg 
Declaration,  on  May  20,  1775,  as  is  attested  by  his  affidavit 
given  when  he  was  61  years  of  age.  In  May,  1775,  when  it 
was  rumored  that  Captain  James  Jack,  bearer  of  the  Meck- 
lenburg Declaration  to  the  Continental  Congress  in  Philadel- 
phia, was  about  to  be  detained  in  Salisbury  by  two  Tory  law- 
yers, Dunn  and  Booties,  young  George  Graham,  then  about  23 
years  of  age,  "was  one  of  the  brave  spirits  who  rode  all  night 
to  Salisbury,"  seized  the  offenders  and  brought  them  both  to 
Mecklenburg  for  trial.  George  Graham  took  an  active  part 
in  the  campaign  against  Cornwallis  in  1780,  and  was  one  of 
the  twelve  (12)  brave  men  who  dared  attack  a  foraging  party 
of  four  hundred  (400)  British  soldiers  at  Mclntire's  Branch 
on  the  Beattie's  Ford  road,  seven  miles  from  Charlotte,  com- 
pelling them  to  retreat  with  a  considerable  loss  of  dead  and 


THE   OLD   CEMETEEY,    CHABLOTTE,   N.    C.  151 

wounded.  Scarcely  has  a  braver  or  more  daring  deed  been 
written  in  the  annals  of  American  history  ! 

After  the  war  George  Graham  was  elected  Major-General 
of  the  North  Carolina  Militia ;  for  many  years  he  was  Clerk 
of  the  Court  of  Mecklenburg  County  and  he  was  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  during  1793-94-95,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Senate  during  1703-04-05-06-07-08-09- 
10-11-12.  Again  we  quote  from  Hunter's  Sketches  of  West- 
ern North  Carolina,  page  99  : 

"He  (George  Graham)  lived  more  than  half  a  century  on 
his  farm  two  miles  from  Charlotte.  He  died  on  the  29th  of 
March,  1826,  in  the  68th  year  of  his  age,  and  is  buried  in  the 
graveyard  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Charlotte." 

A  more  extended  and  interesting  account  of  George  Graham 
may  be  found  in  that  valuable  contribution  to  history,  the  life 
of  his  brother  Joseph,  entitled  General  Joseph  Graham  and 
His  Revolutionary  Papers,  written  by  General  Joseph  Gra- 
ham's distinguished  grandson,  Hon.  Win.  A.  Graham. 

The  inscription  on  George  Graham's  tombstone  is  a  grate- 
ful recognition  by  his  fellow-countrymen  of  his  splendid 
bravery  in  times  of  war  and  of  his  sterling  qualities  in  times 
of  peace,  a  most  unusual  and  striking  tribute ! 

As  we  stand  by  his  grave  we  read : 

Sacred 

to  the 

Memory  of 

Major-General  George  Graham 

who  died 

on  the  29th  of  March,  1S26 

in  the  68th  year  of  his  age. 


He  lived  more  than  half  a  century 

in  the  vicinity  of 

This  place  and  was  a  zealous  and 

active  defender  of  his 

Country's  Rights 
/r1  ~*        in  the 
Revolutionary  War 
and  one  of  the  Gallant  Twelve  who 


152  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

dared  to  attack  and  actually 

drove  400  British  troops 

at  Mclntire's 

7  miles  north  of  Charlotte 

on  the  3rd  of  October,  1780. 

George  Graham  filled  many  high 

and  responsible  Public  Trusts 

the  duties  of  which  he  discharged 

with  fidelity. 

He  was  the  people's  friend  not  their 

flatterer 

and  uniformly  engaged  the 

Unlimited  Confidence 

and  respect  of  his 

Fellow  Citizens. 

The  site  of  the  encounter  with  the  British  at  Mclntire's  has 
been  marked  by  a  boulder  and  inscription  as  a  memorial  to 
George  Graham  and  the  "Gallant  Twelve." 

In  the  north  and  east  corner  of  the  "Old  Cemetery"  a 
space  was  set  apart  for  the  burial  of  the  slaves  who  died  in 
the  homes  of  their  masters.  Many  faithful  men  and  women, 
with  their  little  children,  found  sepulture  here,  near  the  last 
resting  place  of  those  they  had  loved  and  faithfully  served, 
and  who  in  return  were  held  in  affection  and  esteem.  No 
tombstones  mark  these  graves  and  most  of  them  have  disap- 
peared from  sight,  so  today  only  a  rolling  greensward  greets 
the  eye  of  the  casual  passerby,  giving  no  intimation  that  be- 
neath its  turf  lie  the  dust  of  many  of  an  alien  race  who  had 
found  home  and  friends  in  Charlotte. 

Strangers  and  visitors  to  Charlotte  often  visit  the  "Old 
Cemetery"  to  search  for  graves  of  relatives,  or  to  copy  inscrip- 
tions, or,  from  a  reverent  love  of  studying  at  first-hand  a 
people's  history,  to  stroll  through  its  shady  walks  under  its 
ancient  oak  trees  and  read  the  quaint  epitaphs.  Unfortun- 
ately this  historic  burial  place  has  not  been  put  in  "Perpetual 
Care,"  and  the  city  gives  only  a  small  appropriation  for  its 
upkeep.  A  fine  hedge  has  been  planted  around  it  and  a 
splendid  rock  wall  built  on  the  front  side.  At  its  entrance 
on  West  Fifth  Street  we  find  a  beautiful  old  wrought-iron 


THE  OLD   CEMETERY,    CHARLOTTE,    N.    C.  153 

gate  of  historic  interest.  The  iron  was  mined  by  John  Gra- 
ham, a  son  of  General  Joseph  Graham,  at  one  of  the  General's 
iron  furnaces,  "Rehoboth  Furnace,"  in  Lincoln  County,  and 
was  made  "by  hand"  by  the  slaves  and  is  a  beautiful  specimen 
of  their  work.  The  gate  was  owned  by  various  members  of 
the  family  in  succession  and  has  been  donated  to  the  "Old 
Cemetery."  This  sacred  "God's  Acre"  now  lies  close  to  the 
throbbing  heart  of  the  modern  "Queen  City,"  and  is  one  of 
her  priceless  heritages  from  her  early  patriots,  who  bestowed 
on  her  her  splendid  history  which  is  today  her  greatest 
treasure. 


154  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

The  North  Carolina  Medical  Society 
of  1799-1804 


By  Marshall  DeLancey  Haywood. 

Author  of  "Governor  William  Tryon  and  His  Administration  in  the 

Province  of  North  Carolina,   1765-1771,"   "Lives  of 

the  Bishops   of  North  Carolina,"   "Ballads 

of  Courageous  Carolinians,"  etc. 


The  present  splendid  organization,  known  as  The  Medical 
Society  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  had  its  origin,  as 
many  know,  in  the  year  1849 ;  but  the  fact  is  known  to  very 
few  that  just  half  a  century  earlier  a  society  of  almost  the 
same  name — The  North  Carolina  Medical  Society — 
was  projected  in  the  city  of  Raleigh  by  leaders  of  the  medical 
profession  then  residing  in  the  Old  North  State. 

By  perusing  old  files  of  the  Raleigh  Register,  now  pre- 
served in  the  North  Carolina  State  Library,  we  are  able  to 
catch  glimpses  of  the  earlier  organization  and  its  promoters. 
In  the  issue  of  that  paper  of  November  12,  1799,  it  is  stated 
that  "it  is  contemplated  by  several  Gentlemen  of  the  Faculty, 
in  the  State,  to  form  themselves  into  a  Medical  Society,  and 
that  they  intend  to  convene  for  that  purpose  in  this  city  some 
time  in  the  month  of  December."  The  editor  adds:  "Such 
an  association  of  scientific  men  must  be  highly  useful  to  them- 
selves and  to  the  community."  Commenting  still  further  it 
is  editorially  stated  that  such  a  society  could  be  made  ex- 
tremely useful  "by  the  interchange  of  sentiments  which  it 
would  occasion;  by  the  discussion  of  medical  subjects,  which 
would  awaken  the  spirit  of  inquiry;  by  directing  the  pur- 
suits of  the  pupil ;  by  giving  sanction  to  the  medical  skill  and 
ability  of  candidates  for  practice;  by  establishing  among  the 
Faculty  a  friendly  intercourse;  by  enabling  the  community 
to  distinguish  the  true  Physician  from  the  ignorant  Pre- 
tender; and  by  discountenancing,  and  possibly  suppressing 
the  fatal  and  criminal  practices  of  Quacks  and  Empyrics." 


THE  N.  C.  MEDICAL  SOCIETY  155 

The  term  "Faculty,"  above  mentioned,  we  may  add  in 
passing,  is  not  used  in  the  same  sense  as  we  now  generally 
understand  that  word,  but  is  an  obsolete  term  to  denote  a 
learned  profession  or  occupation. 

In  the  Raleigh  Register  of  December  10,  1799,  Dr.  Calvin 
Jones,  "Secretary  of  Correspondence,"  published  notice  that 
the  Medical  Society  would  hold  its  meeting  in  Raleigh  on  the 
16th  of  the  same  month.  It  is  briefly  announced  in  the  afore- 
mentioned newspaper  of  December  17th  that  the  "Medical 
Society  met  this  day  [probably  meaning  the  preceding  day] 
when  Dr.  Hand  was  appointed  to  the  chair,  and  the  Society 
proceeded  to  business." 

The  State  Legislature  convened  in  Raleigh  about  this  time, 
and  legally  incorporated  The  North  Carolina  Medical  So- 
ciety by  Chapter  38  of  the  Private  Laws  of  1799. 

The  list  of  officers  was  announced  as  follows  in  the  Raleigh 
Register  of  December  24th:  Richard  Fenner,  President; 
Nat  Loomis  and  J.  Clairborne,  Vice-Presidents;  Sterling 
Wheaton,  James  Webb,  John  J.  Pasteur,  and  Jason  Hand, 
Censors ;  Calvin  Jones,  Corresponding  Secretary ;  William  B. 
Hill,  Recording  Secretary ;  and  Cargill  Massenburg,  Treas- 
urer. This  meeting  adjourned,  with  a  resolution  that  the 
next  annual  convention  should  be  held  in  Raleigh  on  Decem- 
ber 1,  1800.  It  met  at  the  appointed  time,  and  elected  as  new 
members  Drs.  John  C  Osborne,  Thomas  Mitchel,  John  Sib- 
ley,   Armistead,  and French.  A  success- 
ful examination  before  the  Censors  was  passed  by  Charles 
Smith.  Quite  a  number  of  essays  was  read,  and  discussions 
were  participated  in  by  many  of  those  present.  The  State 
was  then  divided  by  the  Society  into  medical  districts,  and 
the  physicians  residing  in  these  districts  were  urged  to  hold 
periodical  meetings.  Dr.  James  Webb,  of  Hillsborough,  read 
a  paper  on  the  causes  and  prevention  of  gout  and  rheumatism. 
Prizes  in  money  were  offered  by  the  Society  for  certain  quan- 
tities of  plants  and  medicinal  articles  produced  in  North 
Carolina,  as  follows:  fox-glove,  opium,  rhubarb,  castor  oil, 
—4 


156  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

and  senna.  Cholera  infantum  was  fixed  upon  as  the  special 
subject  of  study  for  the  succeeding  annual  meeting,  and 
Drs.  Pasteur,  Wheaton,  Loomis,  and  Hand  were  appointed 
essayists  for  the  said  forthcoming  meeting,  to  be  held  in  the 
year  following,  with  liberty  to  choose  the  subjects  of  their 
dissertations.  Before  this  meeting  of  1800  adjourned,  officers 
were  elected  as  follows :  John  C.  Osborne,  President ;  Thomas 
Mitchel  and  Richard  Fenner,  Vice-Presidents;  James  Webb 
and  John  Sibley,  Censors ;  Sterling  Wheaton,  Recording  Sec- 
retary; Calvin  Jones,  Corresponding  Secretary;  and  Cargill 
Massenburg,  Treasurer. 

The  next  annual  meeting  duly  convened  in  the  city  of 
Raleigh  on  Monday,  December  1,  1801,  and  held  a  three-day 
session.  The  newspaper  account  says  that  aa  considerable 
number  of  respectable  Physicians  from  various  parts  of  the 
State  were  present."  The  president,  Dr.  Osborne,  delivered 
the  opening  address  which  was  editorially  described  in  the 
Raleigh  Register  as  "a  cursory  narrative  of  the  progress  of 
the  science  of  Medicine,  from  the  earliest  ages."  An  "in- 
genious practical  treatise  on  General  Dropsy"  was  read  by 
Dr.  Wheaton.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  take  steps  to- 
wards establishing  a  botanical  garden,  for  the  cultivation  of 
medicinal  plants,  and  it  was  also  resolved  to  found  a  medical 
library.  The  officers  of  the  preceding  year  were  reelected, 
with  the  exception  of  the  fact  that  Dr.  Clairborne  succeeded 
Dr.  Sibley  as  a  Censor.  The  subject  of  infantile  diseases 
was  designated  as  a  special  study  for  the  next  annual  meeting. 

In  the  newspapers  of  November,  1802,  a  call  for  the  Society 
to  meet  on  December  1st,  was  issued  by  Dr.  Calvin  Jones, 
Corresponding  Secretary ;  but,  if  the  meeting  took  place,  as  it 
probably  did,  the  present  writer  can  find  no  record  of  its  pro- 
ceedings. 

The  annual  meeting  at  Raleigh,  on  December  3,  1803, 
brought  a  new  accession  of  members  in  the  persons  of  Drs. 
Robert  Williams  (of  Pitt),  John  McFarland,  John  McAden, 
Elias  Hawes,  Hugh  McCullough,  and  Thomas  Henderson. 
No  change  of  officers  was  made  except  the  election  of  Dr. 


THE  1ST.  C.  MEDICAL  SOCIETY  157 

Williams  as  a  Censor,  vice  Dr.  Clairborne.  The  details  of  this 
meeting  are  not  given  in  the  newspaper  report. 

The  Society  met  in  Raleigh  on  December  10,  1801,  re- 
elected all  officers  of  the  preceding  year,  with  the  exception  of 
Treasurer — Dr.  Hawes  succeeding  Dr.  Massenburg — and  re- 
solved to  hold  its  next  meeting  in  the  town  of  Chapel  Hill, 
the  seat  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  on  the  5th  of 
July,  1805.  Whether  this  meeting  took  place  the  present 
writer  is  unable  to  say,  nor  can  he  find  any  further  record  of 
proceedings  of  this  Society  in  the  old  newspaper  files  or  else- 
where. 

To  illustrate  how  thoroughly  abreast  of  their  time  these 
physicians  in  the  North  Carolina  Medical  Society  were,  it 
may  be  recalled  that  while  Dr.  Jenner's  experiments,  in  Eng- 
land, on  the  subject  of  vaccination  against  smallpox  were  still 
in  progress  the  North  Carolina  practitioners  were  making  a 
study  of  his  dissertations  and  applying  the  process  to  their 
patients.  Jenner's  first  published  treatise  on  the  subject  ap- 
peared in  England  in  1798,  and  his  experiments  were  not 
completed  till  several  years  later.  Yet  as  early  as  1800  Dr. 
Calvin  Jones  published  in  the  Raleigh  Register  an  announce- 
ment that  soon  he  hoped  to  begin  the  treatment  in  North 
Carolina.  A  long  treatise  on  this  subject,  from  the  pen  of 
Dr.  Jones  will  be  found  in  the  Raleigh  Register  of  April  14, 
1801,  in  which  he  made  reference  to  an  announcement  on  the 
subject,  by  him,  in  the  preceding  year,  but  stated  that  he  had 
decided  to  postpone  the  treatment  until  further  experiments 
had  been  perfected  in  Europe  and  America.    He  says : 

"The  public  have  been  taught  to  expect,  from  my  advertise- 
ments of  last  year,  that  I  shall,  in  the  ensuing  month,  com- 
mence inoculation  for  the  Smallpox;  but  I  am  prevented 
from  doing  this  by  the  consideration  of  what  is  due  from  me 
to  those  who  would  have  been  my  patients,  whose  ease  and 
safety  my  own  inclinations  and  the  honor  of  my  profession 
bind  me  to  consult." 

Further  on  in  this  communication  Dr.  Jones  refers  to  emi- 


158  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

nent  practitioners  in  England,  Scotland,  Austria,  and  France, 
who  had  successfully  used  the  treatment,  and  adds : 

"Dr.  Mitchell,  of  New  York,  and  Dr.  Waterhouse,  of  New 
Hampshire,  have  both  received  the  matter  of  the  disease  from 
England,  and  propose  inoculating  early  in  the  present  season, 
so  that  we  may  expect  it  will  soon  become  common  in  the 
United  States." 

The  practice  of  vaccination,  we  may  add,  came  into  use  in 
parts  of  North  Carolina  other  than  the  vicinity  of  Raleigh 
about  the  time  the  above  experiments  were  being  made  by  Dr. 
Jones  and  his  associates.  The  historical  researches  of  Miss 
Adelaide  L.  Fries  have  recently  brought  to  light  the  fact  that 
in  the  old  Moravian  community  of  Salem,  North  Carolina, 
eighty  persons  (mostly  children)  were  successfully  treated  in 
the  Summer  of  1802,  by  Dr.  Samuel  Vierling,  the  town  phy- 
sician, for  whose  use  the  parents  in  that  place  ("house-fathers" 
and  "house-mothers")  had  obtained,  by  a  special  messenger 
whom  they  had  sent  to  "a  certain  doctor  in  Raleigh,"  speci- 
mens of  the  cow-pox  virus,  with  instructions  for  its  proper  use. 
When  Dr.  Vierling  undertook  this  work  at  Salem  he  refused 
to  say  what  compensation  he  would  demand,  as  he  did  not 
know  what  trouble  and  expense  the  process  would  entail.  He 
did  state,  however,  that  he  would  do  the  work  as  cheaply  as 
possible ;  and  we  must  credit  him  with  keeping  this  promise  to 
the  letter,  as  the  record  concludes  with  the  remark  that  Dr. 
Vierling  "declined  to  accept  any  pay  for  his  services." 

Returning  to  the  subject  of  the  North  Carolina  Medical 
Society,  little  remains  to  be  added.  As  already  noted,  we  can 
find  no  record  of  its  meetings  after  1804.  We  may  state  in 
conclusion,  however,  that  as  the  Society  had  made  a  collec- 
tion of  natural  history  specimens,  etc.,  and  as  Dr.  Calvin 
Jones  was  its  secretary ;  and  furthermore,  as  Dr.  Jones  turned 
over  a  "museum  of  artificial  and  natural  curiosities"  to  the 
University  of  North  Carolina,  about  twenty  years  later,  on 
the  eve  of  his  removal  to  Tennessee,  this  gift  to  the  University 
was  in  all  probability  the  last  remaining  possession  of  the  de- 
funct North  Carolina  Medical  Society. 


159 


Proceedings  of  the  North  Carolina  Society 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution 

Held  in  Edenton,  October  24-26,  1916 


At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  State  Society  D.  R.,  held  in 
Raleigh  in  1915,  on  motion  of  the  Vice-Regent,  Mrs.  Mar- 
shall Williams,  it  was  voted  to  hold  the  annual  meeting  of 
191 G  in  some  of  our  historic  old  towns  where  the  Society  has 
a  Chapter.  So  when  Mrs.  Patrick  Matthew,  Regent  of  the 
Penelope  Barker  Chapter,  extended  an  invitation  to  the 
Daughters  to  visit  Edenton,  the  invitation  was  accepted  with 
delightful  anticipation  and  without  deliberation,  for  Edenton 
of  all  towns  in  the  State  is  very  near  to  the  hearts  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution.  It  was  in  studying  the  history 
of  this  Revolutionary  hot-bed  that  they  were  inspired  to 
commemorate  the  Edenton  Tea  Party  of  1774  with  a  hand- 
some bronze  tablet,  which  was  placed  in  the  rotunda  of  the 
State  Capitol  at  Raleigh  in  October,  1908.  In  order  to  raise 
funds  for  that  purpose  the  North  Carolina  Booklet  was 
launched  in  May,  1901,  at  the  suggestion  of  Miss  Martha 
Helen  Haywood,  who,  with  Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood,  was  one 
of  the  first  editors ;  and  the  Penelope  Barker  Chapter  was  the 
first  Chapter  organized  by  the  North  Carolina  Daughters. 

The  Twentieth  Annual  Meeting  of  the  North  Carolina  So- 
ciety Daughters  of  the  Revolution  was  held  in  the  form  of  a 
pilgrimage  to  the  historic  "Borough  Towne"  of  Edenton, 
variously  called  "ye  Towne  in  Queen  Anne's  Creek,"  "ye 
Towne  in  Mattermacomock  Creek,"  and  "Port  of  Roanoke"  in 
the  oldest  records.  The  Penelope  Barker  Chapter  filled  the 
role  of  hostess  most  charmingly  October  24,  25  and  26. 

The  delegates  arrived  at  noon  Tuesday,  October  24,  and 
were  met  at  the  station  by  members  of  the  Chapter  and  Mr 
Richard  D.  Dixon,  representing  his  uncle,  Dr.  Richard  Dil- 
lard  (who  was  unavoidably  absent)  and  driven  to  their  desti- 
nations. That  afternoon  the  gentlemen  of  the  Historical 
Society  gave  a  sail  in  honor  of  the  visiting  Daughters.     The 


160  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

weather  was  ideal  and  the  famous  Bay  of  Edenton,  that  has 
been  so  often  compared  to  the  Bay  of  Naples,  never  looked 
fairer  than  it  did  under  the  mellow  rays  of  the  radiant  autumn 
sun,  while  Mattermacomock  Creek  was  a  veritable  reproduc- 
tion of  fairyland  with  the  rich  tints  of  the  changing  forests, 
the  waving  Spanish  moss  and  the  vivid  reflections  borne  on 
the  smooth  surface  of  its  limpid  waters.  The  dying  of  a 
perfect  day  and  the  brilliant  afterglow  amid  such  surround- 
ings were  watched  intently  by  the  guests,  all  of  whom,  save 
two,  were  enjoying  the  attractions  of  Edenton  for  the  first 
time. 

On  landing,  the  party  strolled  to  the  home  of  Mr.  Frank 
Wood,  where  they  were  entertained  at  tea  by  Miss  Caroline 
W.  Coke,  Vice-Regent  of  the  Penelope  Barker  Chapter.  In 
the  grounds  of  Mr.  Wood's  home,  facing  the  court  house  green, 
stood  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  King,  where  the  Eden- 
ton Tea  Party  was  held,  October  25,  1774,  the  site  of  which 
has  been  marked  by  Mr.  Frank  Wood  with  a  pedestal  mounted 
with  a  bronze  tea  pot.  China  that  was  owned  by  the  distin- 
guished President  of  the  Tea  Party,  the  stately  Penelope 
Barker,  was  used,  and  delicious  tea  cakes,  made  from  the 
recipe  she  had  so  frequently  found  useful,  were  served.  On 
departing,  each  guest  was  presented  with  a  typewritten  recipe, 
rolled  and  tied  with  buff  and  blue  ribbon,  the  Society's  colors. 

The  recipe  is : 

Penelope  Barker  Tea  Cakes. — 1  quart  flour,  %  cup  but- 
ter and  lard,  mixed ;  2  large  cups  brown  sugar,  3  eggs,  1 
rounded  teaspoonful  soda.  Beat  eggs  together  well,  adding 
sugar;  next,  soda,  dissolved  in  1  tablespoonful  warm  water 
(not  hot) .  Flavor  with  vanilla.  Lastly  add  quickly  the  flour, 
into  which  butter  and  lard  have  been  well  worked.  Roll  out 
as  soft  as  possible  and  cut.    Bake  in  a  hot  oven. 

The  parlor  was  tastefully  decorated  with  trailing  vines  and 
pink  roses.  Miss  Tillie  Bond,  the  nearest  living  relative  of 
Penelope  Barker,  was  a  guest  of  honor. 

On  Tuesdav  evening  the  Daughters  met  in  the  Colonial 


PROCEEDINGS  N.  C.  SO.  D.  R.  161 

court  house,  which  had  been  appropriately  dressed  with  yellow 
flowers  and  banners,  carrying  out  the  colors  of  the  Daughters 
of  the  Revolution,  Dr.  Dillard  presiding.  The  address  of 
welcome,  was  delivered  by  the  Regent  of  the  Penelope  Barker 
Chapter : 

Mme.  Regent,  Daughters  of  the  Revolution,,  Ladies  and  Gen- 
tlemen: 

The  first  page  of  American  history  was  written  when 
Columbus  appealed  to  the  Court  of  Spain  for  a  fleet  with 
which  to  set  sail  upon  that  long,  perilous  voyage  which  termi- 
nated in  his  planting  the  Cross  upon  the  Island  of  San  Salva- 
dor, 1492. 

From  that  time  to  the  establishment  of  the  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  Colony  on  Roanoke  Island  to  the  settlement  of  the 
Chowan  Precinct  was  but  a  short  chain  of  events,  but  perfect 
in  continuity. 

Here,  where  the  giants  of  the  forest  stood  deep-rooted  on 
the  shores  of  this  grand  body  of  water,  which  is  now  known  as 
the  Albemarle  Sound,  flowing  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  con- 
necting the  Old  World  with  the  New,  was  "Ye  Little  Towne 
on  Queen  Anne's  Creek."  With  but  a  handful  of  people  it 
set  up  its  own  government  with  its  laws,  court,  customs, 
church,  and  thus  early  laid  the  foundation  for  an  important 
centre  of  trade. 

Surrounded  by  the  Red  Men,  who  soon  became  friends, 
they  reduced  to  cultivation  fertile  fields  which  afforded  the 
barter  for  the  vessels  which  sailed  into  the  harbor. 

Without  recorded  explanation  the  name  was  changed  to 
"Port  of  Roanoke,"  and  here  increased  high  life  of  Church 
and  State,  industries  grew,  wise  patriots  became  known 
abroad,  the  capital  of  the  State  was  here  located,  laws  made, 
and  her  fame  spread  like  the  branches  of  the  grandeur  of  the 
forest  primeval. 

Her  commerce  increased,  ships  multiplied  in  numbers,  and 
the  Old  World  wondered  at  her  great  possession. 

In  1722  Governor  Charles  Eden  died,  and  from  that  date 


162  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

the  name  of  the  town  has  been  Edenton,  thus  convincing  us 
that  it  was  named  in  memory  of  that  distinguished  statesman. 

After  years  of  servitude  and  discontent,  with  no  represen- 
tation in  parliament,  the  cries  of  resentment  grew  pitiful,  but 
the  determination  of  resistance  came  from  the  women  of 
Edenton  in  that  document,  The  Edenton  Tea  Party,  which 
shook  the  foundation  of  British  rule  in  America,  and  sounded 
the  first  alarm  at  the  court  of  St.  James.  Women  have 
always  been  powerful,  but  the  mighty  stroke  of  independence 
was  wielded  by  the  pens  of  the  immortal  fifty-one  who  signed 
their  names  to  that  document,  which  was  the  key-note  of  the 
War  of  the  Revolution. 

So,  Mme.  Regent  and  Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  we  bid 
you  welcome  to  the  home  of  our  ancestors,  the  land  of  King 
Hoyle,  the  last  sovereign  ruler  of  the  Choanokes,  a  man  whose 
lovely  character  made  the  white  people  live  in  harmony  with 
his  tribe,  and  who  gave  his  two  sons  to  be  taught  to  receive 
Christianity,  for  in  his  savage  breast  there  beat  a  heart  which 
knew  that  a  greater  God  than  their  Great  Spirit  was  Lord 
over  the  world  and  he  wanted  his  sons  to  take  up  their  cross 
and  follow  Him. 

With  your  advent  in  our  midst  you  receive  the  freedom  of 
Edenton,  and  to  one  and  all  we  bid  you  come  to  our  houses, 
partake  of  our  bounty,  welcome  you  to  our  firesides,  make  you 
our  friends,  for  be  it  ever  so  lowly  "There's  no  place  like 
home." 

The  following  response  was  made  by  Miss  Mary  Hilliard 
Hinton,  the  State  Regent : 

Officers  and  Daughters  of  the  Revolution: 

It  is  a  pleasure  inexpressible  for  the  North  Carolina  So- 
ciety Daughters  of  the  Revolution  to  assemble  for  the  Twen- 
tieth Annual  Meeting  in  this  historic  "Borough  Town," 
variously  referred  to  in  the  oldest  records  as  the  "Towne  in 
Queen  Anne's  Creek,"  the  "Towne  in  Mattermacomock 
Creek,"  "Port  of  Roanoke,"  and  later  permanently  and  so 
appropriately  named  Edenton,  though  it  must  be  admitted 


PROCEEDINGS  N.  C.  SO.  D.  R.  163 

the  serpent  is  conspicuous  through  absence.  It  is  a  joyous 
privilege  indeed  to  acknowledge  the  gracious  words  of  this 
very  cordial  welcome,  and  to  you,  Madam  Regent,  and  the 
Penelope  Barker  Chapter,  we  extend  our  warmest  expres- 
sions of  appreciation  and  gratitude. 

Particularly  dear  to  the  hearts  of  the  Daughters  of  the 
Revolution  are  Edenton  and  the  Penelope  Barker  Chapter, 
for  it  was  the  noble  history  of  this  fair  town  which  first  in- 
spired this  Society  to  commemorate  the  "Edenton  Tea 
Party"  by  placing  a  handsome  bronze  tablet  in  the  State 
Capitol  at  Raleigh,  the  first  to  adorn  that  stately  edifice,  and 
as  a  way  to  raise  the  means  necessary  the  North  Carolina 
Booklet  was  launched,  May  10,  1901.  In  every  important 
event  in  our  past  since  then  Edenton  has  been  prominently 
represented,  and  some  of  the  Booklet's  most  valuable  con- 
tributions have  been  from  the  pen  of  her  versatile  writers, 
even  to  the  youngest  generation.  The  Penelope  Barker  Chap- 
ter has  been  our  heart's  pride,  because  it  was  the  first  Chapter 
organized,  and  its  record  can  only  arouse  interest  and  stimu- 
late ambition  in  historic  research  and  patriotic  achievements. 
It  is  an  honor  to  have  such  a  band  of  members  respond  to  its 
roll  call. 

As  we  gather  here  today,  some  visitors  for  the  first  time  to 
this  Revolutionary  hot-bed  and  centre  of  culture  and  refine- 
ment, naturally  our  thoughts  revert  to  those  stirring  times 
that  shook  a  great  kingdom  and  a  vast  continent  to  their  very 
foundations.  We  feel  the  sacred  presence  of  the  famous 
statesmen  and  the  brave,  fascinating  women  who  moved  in 
that  long  ago,  for  here  they  lived,  labored  and  won  laurels  for 
the  Patriot  Cause  that  can  never  fade.  These  beautiful, 
historic  buildings  of  the  Colonial  period  have  been  rendered 
more  interesting  from  the  fact  that  they  have  resounded  with 
the  echoes  of  their  voices  and  the  fall  of  their  footsteps.  They 
pass  before  us  in  mental  review.  Foremost  in  that  distant 
throng  are  Judge  James  Iredell,  who,  by  his  letters,  has  be- 
queathed to  posterity  such  vivid  delineations  of  the  social  life, 
Colonial  and  Revolutionary,  of  Edenton;  Governor  Samuel 


164  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Johnston,  the  builder  of  "Hayes,"  and  his  sisters,  Hannah  and 
Isabella ;  Joseph  Hewes ;  James  Wilson,  of  Pennsylvania ; 
Thomas  Barker,  and  his  fair  spouse,  the  immortal  Penelope, 
and  that  beauty  and  belle,  Betsy  Barker,  whose  likeness 
present-day  iconoclasts  wish  to  confound  with  that  of  her 
noted  step-mother,  but  whose  separate  portraits  exist  in 
middle  Carolina,  one  of  the  President  of  the  Tea  Party 
loaned  to  the  Hall  of  History  at  Raleigh  and  the  other  in 
the  home  of  a  descendant  at  Ridgeway,  painted,  it  seems,  by 
the  same  artist,  but  showing  not  one  trace  of  resemblance. 
Each  of  the  fifty-one  signers  of  the  Tea  Party  stand  forth  as 
clearly  as  though  the  mist  of  intervening  years  had  vanished. 
Many,  many,  many  others  pass  in  the  distinguished  assemb- 
lage. We  offer  our  homage  to  their  hallowed  memories  and 
imbibe  inspiration  to  aspire  to  higher  ideals  and  the  perform- 
ance of  deeds  worth  while. 

Of  all  the  towns  of  North  Carolina  none  have  preserved 
that  ideal,  restful  Colonial  atmosphere,  all  too  rare  in  this  age 
of  perpetual  unrest  and  dangerous  commercialism,  as  has  this 
sweet  haven  of  rest,  and  nowhere  else  can  be  brewed  as  delic- 
ious a  cup  of  tea,  which  proves  that  the  fifty-one  ladies  that 
met  at  Mrs.  King's  house  on  the  Court  House  Green  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-two  years  ago  tomorrow,  understood  the  full 
meaning  of  self-denial !  To  Edenton  we  come  to  receive  fresh 
impetus  to  proceed  with  extensive  plans  for  a  future  of  rose- 
tinted  promise. 

Six  and  a  half  years  have  passed  since  you  entrusted  to 
your  Regent  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  Society.  It 
has  been  a  pleasure  to  serve  the  order  that  is  closest  to  her 
heart,  even  though  in  so  doing  she  has  been  overworked  with 
the  requirements  of  the  office,  in  addition  to  the  demands  of 
the  Booklet,  therefore  she  fully  realizes  her  shortcomings 
and  at  all  times,  in  glancing  over  the  past,  she  trusts  you  will 
do  so  with  kind  indulgence. 

During  that  space  of  time  five  Chapters,  the  Bloomsbury 
at  Raleigh,  the  Roanoke  at  Windsor,  the  General  Francis 
Nash  at  Hillsboro,  the  Mary  Slocumb  at  Faison,  and  the 


PROCEEDINGS  N.  C.  SO.  D.  R.  165 

Thomas  Robeson  at  Red  Springs,  have  been  organized,  and 
two  Junior  Chapters,  the  Virginia  Dare  and  Ensinore,  at 
Elizabeth  City,  have  been  formed.  The  set  of  one  hundred 
and  nine  lantern  slides,  most  of  which  are  colored,  and  the 
lecture,  "Stories  from  North  Carolina  History,"  have  been 
made  and  presented  in  Raleigh,  Elizabeth  City,  Washington, 
Edenton,  Windsor,  and  Winston-Salem.  Eight  tablets  have 
been  erected  by  the  Chapters.  A  room  has  been  furnished  by 
the  Chapters  in  Elizabeth  City,  called  the  "Virginia  Dare 
Room."  The  chart  and  key  of  St.  Paul's  Churchyard  has 
been  presented  this  historic  church,  the  painstaking  work  of 
the  Penelope  Barker  Chapter.  Twenty  gold  medals  have  been 
presented  in  the  public  schools  in  towns  in  North  Carolina. 
Miss  Catherine  Albertson's  book,  "In  Ancient  Albemarle," 
has  been  published  by  the  Society.  Every  annual  meeting  of 
the  General  Society,  save  that  at  Brooklyn  in  1915,  has  been 
attended  by  delegates  from  North  Carolina.  The  Booklet 
has  been  published  and  some  brilliant  social  functions  are 
some  of  the  matters  that  have  engaged  the  hearts  and  hands 
of  the  North  Carolina  Daughters. 

Today  the  North  Carolina  Society  is  as  loyal  to  the  parent 
Society  as  she  was  in  the  pioneer  days — aye,  more  so.  We 
stand  for  the  things  she  advocates  and  we  are  happy  and  con- 
tent in  being  under  her  fold.  Loyalty  is  one  of  the  noblest 
traits  that  has  been  implanted  in  the  nature  of  man.  Would 
we  be  worthy  of  the  great  heroes  whose  deeds  we  commem- 
orate were  we  untrue  to  the  cause  we  have  espoused  \  Our 
ranks  are  constantly  being  strengthened  by  the  best,  and  we 
rejoice  that  we  can  face  the  future  with  confidence  and  hope 
of  greater  achievement. 

To  our  beloved  founder,  Mrs.  Fannie  DeBerniere  Hooper 
Whitaker,  we  turn  in  loving  remembrance,  and  we  feel  North 
Carolina  has  been  richer  for  the  influence  she  wielded  and 
her  memory  continues  to  exert. 

To  the  officers  and  members  of  the  North  Carolina  Society 
your  Regent  extends  her  sincerest  thanks  for  this  list  of  good 


166  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

works  and  for  the  whole-hearted  support  you  have  bestowed  in 
times  of  labor  and  toil,  in  times  of  clouds  and  sunshine. 
Each  of  you  has  become  dearer  for  the  associations  which 
shall  be  cherished  always. 

An  address,  giving  the  historical  facts  of  this  building, 
around  which  has  centered  so  much  of  the  past  of  Edenton, 
from  Dr.  Dillard,  was  enjoyed  by  the  audience.  The  interior 
is  modeled  after  the  ancient  basilica,  and  here  the  House  of 
Burgesses  assembled  and  guided  the  affairs  of  the  Colony  of 
North  Carolina.  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt,  Honorary  Regent  of  the 
North  Carolina  Society  D.  R.,  also  talked  on  subjects  of  vital 
importance  for  the  preservation  of  our  State  history. 

October  25th — the  anniversary  of  the  Tea  Party — dawned 
bright  and  clear.  In  celebration  of  that  event  four  tablets 
were  unveiled  by  the  Penelope  Barker  Chapter.  By  10 
o'clock  the  citizens  of  Edenton  had  gathered  in  St.  Paul's 
Church,  the  school  children  had  marched  from  the  Academy, 
bearing  the  banners  of  the  Chapter,  which  on  entering  were 
placed  at  the  church  door,  and  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolu- 
tion had  taken  the  seats  reserved  for  them  along  the  main 
aisle,  to  take  part  in  the  impressive  service  that  was  con- 
ducted in  the  absence  of  the  beloved  Rector,  Reverend  Robert 
Brent  Drane,  D.D.,  by  the  Reverend  B.  F.  Huske,  Rector  of 
Christ  Church,  New  Bern,  North  Carolina.  Here  was  un- 
veiled by  Richard  Norfleet  Hines,  Jr.,  the  marble  tablet  in 
the  rear  of  the  church  to  the  signers  of  the  "Test,"  who  com- 
posed the  vestry  of  St.  Paul's  at  that  time,  renouncing  alle- 
giance to  the  crown.  The  text  of  the  document  and  the  names 
of  the  signers  are  engraved  on  the  memorial  in  black  letters. 
Mr.  Huske' s  address  was  most  interesting,  and  it  is  regretted 
by  the  Daughters  that  it  was  almost  entirely  extemporaneous. 

From  the  church  the  throng  repaired  to  the  home  of  Judge 
James  Iredell,  where  the  marble  tablet  in  the  great  outside 
brick  chimney,  the  gift  through  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolu- 
tion of  the  present  owners  and  occupants,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam T.  Gordon,  was  unveiled  by  William  Elliott  and  Ethel 


PKOCEEDUSTGS  N.  C.  SO.  D.  R.  167 

McMullan.  Colonel  J.  Bryan  Grimes,  President  of  the 
North  Carolina  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  made 
the  speech  of  presentation.  He  spoke  of  the  man,  his  life  and 
splendid  services  to  the  State  and  the  Union,  of  his  influence 
on  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  and  the  Constitu- 
tion. It  was  here  that  James  Wilson,  signer  of  the  National 
Declaration  of  Independence  from  Pennsylvania,  visited,  and 
here  he  breathed  his  last.  His  remains  were  interred  in  the 
burying-ground  at  "Hayes"  and  later — several  years  ago — 
were  removed  to  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Dillard  accepted  in  his 
happiest  manner  for  the  town  of  Edenton : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

Prehistoric  man  built  cairns  or  heaps  of  stone  to  commem- 
orate important  events ;  the  ancient  Egyptians  emblazoned  in 
hieroglyphics  the  deeds  of  their  illustrious  Pharoahs  upon 
the  faces  of  the  everlasting  pyramids;  the  history  of  the 
ancient  Aztecs  is  written  amid  the  picturesque  mines  of 
Mitla  and  Cholula,  and  Joshua  set  up  twelve  stones  at  Jordan, 
so  that  when  the  children  should  ask  their  fathers  in  times  to 
come,  "What  mean  ye  by  these  stones  ?  ye  shall  answer  them 
that  the  waters  of  Jordan  were  cut  off  before  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  of  the  Lord."  And  so  on  through  all  the  ages,  man- 
kind has  seen  fit  to  mark  in  brass,  or  bronze,  or  graven  stone, 
whatever  was  valuable  for  posterity— they  are  the  hall-marks 
and  symbols  of  immortality.  We  have  had  presented  us  today 
a  tablet  in  honor  of  Edenton's  most  illustrious  son ;  like  Socra- 
tes he  was  "the  perfection  of  earth's  mental  beauty,  and  the 
personification  of  all  virtue" ;  the  fairest  star  that  glitters  in 
the  firmanent  of  our  history !  And  now,  in  behalf  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Edenton,  and  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, this  tablet  is  most  graciously  accepted.  Here  let  it  stand, 
a  perpetual  inspiration  to  noble  deeds,  and  virtuous  actions ! 
To  the  souls  of  fire  let  it  give  more  fire,  and  to  those  who  are 
slothful,  let  it  give  a  might  more  than  is  man's !  For  who 
shall  say  that  fame  is  but  an  empty  name ! 


168  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

"In  thinking  of  the  honored  dead 
The  youth  shall  rise  from  slothful  bed 
And  now,  with  uplifted  hand  and  heart, 
Like  him  to  act  a  noble  part." 

At  the  Academy  a  bronze  tablet  to  the  Founders  of  the 
original  Academy,  on  the  exterior,  near  the  entrance  of  the 
stately,  pillared  new  structure,  is  placed,  which  was  unveiled 
by  Caroline  Privott,  daughter  of  a  trustee.  Colonel  J.  Bryan 
Grimes  presenting,  and  Mr.  J.  Norfleet  Pruden  accepting  on 
behalf  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  Colonel  Olds  also  addressed 
the  throng,  speaking  of  the  duty  that  rested  upon  the  children, 
the  future  makers  of  Edenton  and  the  keepers  of  her  splendid 
past. 

To  the  court  house  the  children  marched,  followed  by  the 
audience,  to  witness  the  presentation  by  Colonel  C.  S.  Vann, 
who,  in  speaking,  paid  a  high  tribute  to  womanhood,  and  the 
acceptance  of  Mr.  F.  W.  Hobbs,  Clerk  of  the  Court,  of  the 
bronze  tablet,  unveiled  by  daughters  of  county  officers,  Fran- 
ces Brownley  Evans,  Elsie  Goodwin,  Cornelia  Harrell,  and 
Sadie  Hobbs,  on  the  exterior  of  the  edifice  to  the  fifty-one 
signers  of  the  Edenton  Tea  Party. 

Mr.  Hobbs  said : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen:     . 

Although  I  am  no  speechmaker  I  wish  to  assure  you  that 
it  affords  me  a  peculiar  pleasure  to  accept  the  tablet  commem- 
orative of  one  of  the  most  important  historical  events  recorded 
upon  the  annals,  embracing  the  history  of  our  grand  old  town, 
county,  and  commonwealth. 

The  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  deserve  the  highest  com- 
mendation at  our  hands  for  the  splendid  work  they  have  ac- 
complished in  placing  tablets  here  and  there  in  our  town, 
which  Col.  R.  B.  Creecy  said  was  the  most  historical  of  all 
the  towns  in  the  State.  These  matters  of  history  will  always 
be  recognized  as  most  important,  for  frequently  they  are  the 
source  of  inspiration  to  succeeding  generations,  and  I  believe 
to  have  them  carved  upon  enduring  metal,  or  other  lasting 


PEOCEEDUSTGS  N.  C.  SO.  D.  E.  169 

material,  and  placed  where  they  can,  on  all  public  occasions, 
be  seen,  will  have  a  tendency  to  elevate  the  ideals  of  our  citi- 
zenship, make  them  more  patriotic,  and  lovers  of  our  grand 
old  State  and  glorious  Nation. 

I  thank  these  ladies  for  their  manifested  interest  in  these 
matters,  and  again  state  with  great  pleasure  I  accept,  on  be- 
half of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  and  the  citizenship  of  the 
County  of  Chowan,  this  splendid  tablet  which  commemorates 
such  glorious  courage  and  patriotism  of  our  women  of  the 
Revolutionary  War.  To  read  these  resolutions  is  enough  to 
make  us  proud  of  our  women  of  this  stirring  period  of  our 
country's  history,  and  to  make  us  glad  that  we  are  to  the  man- 
ner born. 

We  welcome  to  the  county  the  North  Carolina  Society 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  and  have  placed  at  their  dis- 
posal this  court  house,  within  whose  walls  have  presided  and 
pleaded  statesmen  and  men  who  were  giants  in  their  profes- 
sion and  times,  honored  and  esteemed  by  their  fellow  country- 
men. 

The  "Resolves"  signed  two  hundred  and  forty-two  years 
ago  and  the  names  of  the  patriotic  signers  are  given  thereon. 

On  the  conclusion  of  these  instructive  and  enjoyable  exer- 
cises the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  were  cordially  invited 
by  Dr.  Dillard  to  visit  "Beverly  Hall."  Here  amid  the  rare 
plants,  flowers  and  ornamentation  of  his  Italian  garden,  and 
in  the  library,  where  each  recorded  her  name  in  the  guest 
book,  time  flew,  and  soon  the  Daughters  were  rushed  off  to 
charming  luncheons  with  Mrs.  William  D.  Pruden  and  Miss 
Sophie  Martin  Wood,  at  historic  "Hayes,"  conceded  by  Vir- 
ginia authorities  to  be  the  most  interesting  home  in  the  South. 

The  afternoon  was  devoted  to  the  transaction  of  business 
in  the  court  house,  Miss  Hinton  presiding.  Reports  from  the 
State  officers  and  Chapter  Regents  were  read  and  plans  dis- 
cussed for  entertaining  the  General  Society  in  Raleigh  in 
April,  1917.  Twenty-five  dollars  for  the  publication  of  the 
minutes  of  this  meeting  in  the  Booklet  were  donated  by  the 


170  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

visiting  delegates,  and  it  was  voted  to  have  a  handsome  silk 
banner  made  this  winter,  such  as  the  other  State  Societies 
possess.  This  will  bear  the  State  flag  and  will  be  adorned 
with  the  hornet's  nest,  emblems  of  the  Edenton  Tea  Party,  etc. 
Seventeen  new  members  have  joined  during  the  year  1916, 
and  thirty-two  more  are  filling  out  their  papers.  Two  new 
Chapters,  the  Mary  Slocumb  at  Faison,  of  which  Miss  Geor- 
gia Hicks  is  Regent,  and  the  Colonel  Thomas  Robeson,  at 
Red  Springs,  have  been  organized,  while  another  of  young 
girls  is  being  formed.  A  motion  was  carried  that  the  Society 
request  Colonel  Charles  Earle  Johnson  to  reprint  the  "Life 
and  Letters  of  James  Iredell,"  by  McRee,  now  out  of  print. 
This  cast  such  light  on  the  grave  questions  of  the  Colonial, 
Revolutionary,  and  post-Revolutionary  periods  and  on  the 
delightful  social  life  of  Edenton  of  Judge  Iredell's  day  that 
it  is  needed  in  our  public  and  private  libraries. 

REPORT  OF  THE  RECORDING  SECRETARY— MRS.  L.  E. 
COVINGTON. 

The  North  Carolina  Society  Daughters  of  the  Revolution 
have,  during  the  year  1915-1916,  done  substantial,  good  work. 
The  Society  has  maintained  its  high  standard  of  patriotic  zeal 
and  worth-while  accomplishments. 

Quite  a  number  of  energetic,  ambitious  members  have  been 
added  and  they  are  already  taking  up  the  work  of  the  Society 
with  vigor  and  zeal.  It  behooves  those  of  us  who  have  been 
members  for  some  years  not  to  lag  behind  these  new  members 
in  zeal;  and,  in  fact,  we  should  endeavor  to  inspire  and  en- 
courage them  to  the  most  energetic  service.  Social,  domestic, 
and  often  literary  duties  are  pressing  upon  us  and  the  tempta- 
tion is  to  leave  the  hardest  work  to  the  most  willing  ones ;  but, 
remembering  that  we  are  descended  from  the  men  who  took 
upon  themselves  unselfish,  faithful  service  to  their  country, 
we  cannot  be  faithless  to  the  trust  of  ours,  to  keep  their  mem- 
ory fresh  and  green,  to  erect  from  time  to  time  tablets  and 
memorials  so  that  heroes  and  heroic  deeds  may  not  be  forgot- 


PROCEEDINGS  X.  C.  SO.  D.  R.  171 

ten ;  and,  above  all,  to  inspire  in  the  present  generation  a  love 
for  their  country  and  their  country's  heroes. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  work  that  our  North  Carolina 
Society  has  done  and  is  doing  is  the  publication  of  the  North 
Carolina  Booklet,  begun  some  years  ago  by  Miss  Martha 
Haywood  and  Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood  and  now  continued  by 
Miss  Mary  Hinton  and  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt.  The  most  val- 
uable historical  papers  are,  in  the  Booklet,  collected  in 
tangible,  enduring  form;  well  known  authorities  give  accu- 
rate, carefully  written  articles ;  and,  under  Miss  Hinton's 
wise  editorship,  the  North  Carolina  Booklet  has  become  a 
storehouse  of  information,  and,  to  the  Booklet,  scholars, 
teachers,  and  students  are  constantly  referring  for  facts  of 
historical  importance.  The  recent  series  of  articles  on  the 
North  Carolina  Secretaries  of  the  Navy  have  received  more 
attention  and  have  been  most  favorably  reviewed  by  the  press 
in  different  sections  of  the  State. 

During  the  recent  Convention  of  the  General  Society,  held 
last  May  in  New  York,  the  North  Carolina  Society  was  repre- 
sented by  Miss  Hinton,  Regent ;  Mrs.  Paul  Lee,  Correspond- 
ing Secretary;  Mrs.  Marshall  Williams,  Vice-Regent,  and 
Mrs.  C.  C.  Phillips  of  New  York.  The  invitation  was  ex- 
tended by  the  North  Carolina  Society  through  Miss  Hinton 
to  have  the  General  Society  hold  its  meeting  in  Raleigh  in 
1917.  The  invitation  was  accepted  and  Raleigh  will  be 
hostess  some  time  next  year,  either  in  April  or  May,  to  a  dis- 
tinguished gathering  of  women.  There  has  been  appointed  by 
Miss  Hinton  a  Ways  and  Means  Committee  to  arrange  for 
expenses  incident  to  this  meeting,  and  plans  are  being  formu- 
lated as  to  the  program  of  entertainment,  etc. 

Mrs.  Coving-ton  then  quoted  from  The  Patriot,  a  part  of 
Miss  Hinton's  report,  read  at  the  New  York  Convention  in 
April,  1916. 

The  report  from  Mrs.  Chas.  Lee  Smith,  Treasurer,  was 
read,  showing  receipts  amounting  to  $164.33,  and  disburse- 
—5 


172  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

ments  amounting  to  $118.59,  leaving  a  balance  on  hand  of 
$45.74.  It  was  moved  and  carried  that  this  report  be  ac- 
cepted. 

Miss  Hinton,  Regent,  and  editor  of  the  Booklet,  reported 
for  volumes  XIII,  XIV,  XV,  extending  from  July,  1913,  to 
July,  1916.    Moved  and  carried  that  this  report  be  approved. 

The  Registrar,  Miss  Sarah  W.  Ashe,  reports  these  new 
members : 

Mrs.  Fannie  Yarborough  Bickett,  Louisburg,  X.  C.  (wife 
of  Attorney-General  [now  Governor]  Hon.  Walter  Bickett). 

Mrs.  Mary  Davis  Holt,  Burlington,  X.  C.  (wife  of  Mr. 
Erwin  Allen  Holt). 

Miss  Elizabeth  Ireland,  Faison,  X.  C. 

Mrs.  Mary  Lou  Brown  Hill,  Warsaw,  X.  C.  (wife  of  Mr. 
William  L.Hill). 

Mrs.  Annie  H.  Witherington,  Faison,  X.  C.  (wife  of  Mr. 

B.  B.  Witherington). 

Mrs.  Xyda  H.  Weatherby,  Faison,  X.  C.  (wife  of  Mr. 
Carleton  E.  Weatherby). 

Miss  Winifred  Faison,  Faison,  X.  C. 

Miss  Georgia  Hicks,  Faison,  X.  C. 

Mrs.  Janie  Hicks  Phillips,  Xew  York  City  (wife  of  Mr. 

C.  C.  Phillips). 

Miss  Louise  Phillips,  Xew  York  City. 

Mrs.  Lila  H.  Hines,  Faison,  X.  C.  (wife  of  C.  Shaw 
Hines). 

Mrs.  Mary  Franklin  Pass  Fearington,  Winston-Salem, 
X.  C.  (wife  of  Dr.  J.  P.  Fearington). 

Miss  Faith  Fearington,  Winston-Salem,  X.  C. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  R.  F.  Croom,  Wilmington,  X.  C.  (wife  of 
Mr.  Avery  Burr  Croom) . 

Miss  Mary  Perrett,  Faison,  X.  C. 

Mrs.  Ruth  Huntington  Moore,  Raleigh,  X.  C. 

Mrs.  Annie  Ramsey,  Raleigh,  X.  C.  (wife  of  Dr.  George 
J.  Ramsey). 

Report  from  Mrs.  Matthew,  Regent  of  the  Penelope  Bar- 


PROCEEDINGS  N.  C.  SO.  D.  K.  173 

ker  Chapter,  which  report,  she  said,  was  written  on  bronze 
and  marble,  the  four  tablets  unveiled  today  bespeaking  the 
work  of  this  chapter.  A  fine  work  in  necrology  has  also  been 
done.  It  was  moved  and  carried  that  this  report  be  accepted. 
Report  from  Mrs.  I.  M.  Meekins,  Regent  of  the  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  Chapter: 

REPORT  OF  THE  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH  CHAPTER, 
DAUGHTERS  OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

Miss  Catherine  Albertson,  former  Regent  of  the  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  Chapter  D.  R.,  resigned  her  office  as  Regent  last 
October,  as  her  duties  as  Principal  of  the  High  School  prevent 
her  from  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  Chapter. 

Mrs.  I.  M.  Meekins,  Vice-President,  then  became  Regent. 

The  pupils  of  the  High  School  manifested  unusual  interest 
in  the  competition  for  the  medal  offered  by  the  State  Society 
D.  R.  last  spring.  The  subject  chosen  was  "The  Life  of 
John  Harvey,"  and  the  medal  was  won  by  Miss  Ida  Owens,  a 
member  of  the  Senior  Class  of  '16. 

Miss  Albertson  presented  the  medal  to  Miss  Owens  on 
Thursday  night,  June  1st,  during  the  graduating  exercises  of 
the  High  School  Senior  Class,  and  took  occasion  to  make  a 
short  address  to  the  audience,  commemorating  the  services  of 
John  Harvey  to  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 

On  June  11th,  a  meeting  of  the  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Ense- 
nore,  and  Virginia  Dare  Chapters  was  held  at  the  residence  of 
Mrs.  I.  M.  Meekins,  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  for  a  D.  R. 
float  to  take  part  in  a  parade  on  July  4th,  in  which  the  various 
civic  and  patriotic  organizations  of  the  town  were  asked  to 
join. 

July  Fourth  a  seven  passenger  automobile  was  decorated 
with  the  D.  R.  colors  and  filled  with  members  of  the  Junior 
D.  R.,  dressed  in  Colonial  costumes. 

The  three  D.  R.  Chapters  still  hope  to  erect  the  memorial 
fountain  to  Virginia  Dare,  and  as  the  Juniors  grow  to  woman- 
hood to  erect  in  our  county  the  memorial  tablets  to  preserve 
her  history. 


174  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

REPORT  FROM  THE  BLOOMSBURY  CHAPTER. 

The  Bloomsbury  Chapter  D.  R.  was  formed  April  9,  1910. 
Although  young  in  age  it  has,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs. 
Hubert  Haywood,  its  Regent,  marked  several  historical 
places. 

The  first  one  being  the  site  of  the  old  town  of  Bloomsbury, 
or  Wake  Court  House. 

The  memorial  was  a  bronze  tablet  placed  on  a  natural 
boulder  of  Wake  County  granite,  and  located  at  the  corner  of 
Boylan  Avenue  and  Morgan  Street. 

The  second :  The  Chapter  presented  to  the  City  of  Raleigh 
a  beautiful  bronze  tablet  to  the  memory  of  Col.  Joel  Lane.  It 
was  placed  on  the  left  hand  side  of  the  entrance  to  the  City 
Municipal  Building. 

In  the  near  future  the  Chapter  expects  to  mark  Try  on' s 
Road  (Ramsgate  Road).  This  road  was  used  by  Try  on  on 
his  march  against  the  Regulators  at  Alamance.  It  is  situated 
south  of  Raleigh. 

Nearly  seventy  dollars  is  in  the  treasury  for  this  purpose. 
Several  of  the  members  have  contributed  to  this  cause,  and 
forty-six  dollars  and  thirty-five  cents  ($46.35)  were  made 
from  a  moving  picture  benefit. 

The  Chapter  decided  that  it  would  take  the  noted  women 
of  North  Carolina  during  the  Revolutionary  period  as  the 
topic  for  this  year. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  business  meetings  held  during  the 
year  there  were  two  especially  enjoyable  occasions. 

On  New  Year's  day  the  Chapter  met  with  Mrs.  James  E. 
Shepherd.  After  the  business  of  the  Chapter  was  dispatched 
several  historical  places  and  noted  women  of  the  Colonial 
period  were  discussed.  During  the  afternoon  Mrs.  Shepherd 
served  delightful  refreshments  typical  of  the  New  Year. 

Washington's  birthday  was  celebrated  this  year  at  the  home 
of  Mrs.  Geo.  P.  Pell. 


PROCEEDINGS  N.  C.  SO.  D.  K.  175 

The  decorations  of  the  house,  the  papers  read  and  the  songs 
sung  were  all  suggestive  of  the  occasion. 

Then  followed  delightful  refreshments  which  carried  out 
the  patriotic  idea.  Grace  H.  Bates, 

Secy  Bloomsbury  Chapter  D.  R. 

Report  from  the  Gen.  Francis  Nash  Chapter,  Miss  Rebecca 
Cameron,  Regent,  was  read  and  approved.  This  Chapter  has 
done  no  active  work  in  the  past  year,  but  has  maintained  or- 
ganized membership.  With  infinite  sorrow  they  report  the 
death  of  one  of  their  beloved  members,  Mrs.  Annie  Ruffin 
Collins  (Mrs.  George  P.  Collins). 

Miss  Georgia  Hicks,  Regent  of  the  Mary  Slocumb  Chap- 
ter, read  the  report  from  this  Chapter : 

REPORT  OF  THE  MARY  SLOCUMB  CHAPTER  DAUGHTERS 
OF  THE  REVOLUTION,  OCTOBER  25,  1916. 

The  Mary  Slocumb  Chapter  was  organized  March  20, 
1916,  in  the  home  of  Mrs.  Marshall  Williams,  State  Vice- 
Regent.  Mrs.  Williams  presided  and  read  the  Constitution 
and  By-laws,  and  object  of  the  Society.  Officers  elected  were: 
Regent,  Miss  Georgia  Hicks;  Vice-Regent,  Mrs.  W.  L.  Hill, 
Warsaw;  Secretary,  Miss  Elizabeth  Newton  Ireland. 

The  name  of  the  Chapter,  "Mary  Slocumb,"  was  selected  by 
a  unanimous  vote.  Fifteen  ladies  now  constitute  the  member- 
ship and  we  will  probably  have  more  before  very  long.  Mrs. 
Williams  and  Miss  Hicks  entertained  the  Chapter  at  the 
June  meeting.  Mrs.  Williams  gave  a  most  interesting  ac- 
count of  her  visit  to  New  York  as  delegate  to  the  National 
D.  R.  Convention.  Miss  Hicks  read  a  sketch  of  Nathaniel 
Macon,  and  Mrs.  Withermgton  an  article  on  Colonial  hospi- 
tality. This  winter  we  will  probably  study  Revolutionary 
history,  beginning  with  sketches  of  the  men  and  women  of 
those  times.  As  our  Chapter  is  probably  one  of  the  most  re- 
cently formed  in  the  State  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  give  a  little 
sketch  of  the  heroine  for  whom  it  is  named,  "Mary  Slocumb." 
Among  the  brave  men  who  took  part  in  the  Battle  of  Moore's 


176  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Creek  Bridge  was  Capt.  Ezekiel  Slocumb,  of  Wayne  County, 
whose  home  was  near  the  Neuse  River.  He  left  his  home  on 
Sunday,  previous  to  the  battle,  in  high  spirits,  with  eighty 
men  to  join  the  forces  under  Col.  Richard  Caswell,  and  to  do 
battle  against  the  Tories.  Mrs.  Slocumb,  the  wife  of  the 
Captain,  said  she  kept  thinking  about  her  husband  all  day, 
when  he  was  going  with  his  men,  and  the  Tories  they  would 
meet,  and  though  she  worked  hard  all  day  the  situation  of 
Captain  Slocumb  and  his  men  could  not  be  banished  from  her 
mind.  That  night  she  had  a  "dream  that  was  not  all  a 
dream."  She  saw  distinctly  a  body  wrapped  in  her  husband's 
guard  cloak,  bloody  and  dead,  and  others  dead  and  wounded 
on  the  ground.  She  felt  she  must  go  to  her  husband,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  after  awakening  she  saddled  her  horse  and  rode 
at  full  speed  in  the  direction  the  men  had  taken.  All  night, 
with  scarcely  a  break  in  the  pace,  she  rode  through  Duplin 
and  New  Hanover  counties,  through  the  lone  pine  woods. 
About  sunrise  she  passed  groups  of  women  and  children  on 
the  road-side  exhibiting  equal  anxiety  to  hear  from  the  battle, 
but  she  paused  not  until,  after  riding  65  miles,  she  came 
into  swampy  ground  and  heard  the  thunder  of  the  cannon. 
To  use  her  words,  she  said,  "I  stopped  still,  the  battle  was 
fighting  then.  I  could  hear  the  muskets  and  the  shouting.  I 
spoke  to  my  mare  and  dashed  on  in  the  direction  of  the 
firing."  The  shouts  grew  louder  as  she  drew  nearer,  and  she 
said,  "I  saw,  a  few  yards  away  from  the  road,  under  a  cluster 
of  trees  perhaps  twenty  men  lying — they  were  wounded.  I 
knew  the  spot  as  if  I  had  seen  it  a  thousand  times,  and  the 
position  of  the  men.  I  had  seen  it  all  night.  In  an  instant 
my  whole  soul  was  centered  on  one  spot,  for  there,  wrapped  in 
his  bloody  guard  cloak,  was  my  husband's  body.  How  I 
passed  the  few  yards  from  my  saddle  to  the  place  I  never 
knew.  I  remember  uncovering  his  head  and  seeing  a  face 
clotted  with  blood  from  a  dreadful  wound  across  the  temples. 
I  put  my  hand  on  the  bloody  face,  and  an  unknown  voice 
begged  for  water — it  was  Frank  Cogdell.    Just  then,  I  looked 


PROCEEDINGS  N.  C.  SO.  D.  E.  177 

up  and  my  husband,  bloody  as  a  butcher,  and  muddy  as  a 
ditcher,  stood  before  me."  Her  husband  was  wounded,  but 
not  seriously.  She  spent  the  day  in  tenderly  nursing  the 
wounded  and  dying,  then  returned  home. 

Captain  Slocumb  survived  the  varying  fortunes  of  the 
Revolution,  and  he  and  his  courageous  and  devoted  wife  lie 
buried  beneath  modest  slabs  on  their  old  plantation  home. 
Some  of  us  have  heard  the  story  of  this  brave  woman  from 
our  earliest  years,  and  to  this  day,  though  we  frequently  pass 
the  old  burying  ground,  we  always  look  for  the  white  tomb- 
stones, and  think  of  the  heroism  of  Mary  Slocumb. 
Respectfully  submitted, 

Georgia  Hicks. 

The  Corresponding  Secretary,  Mrs.  Paul  H.  Lee,  of 
Raleigh,  gave  an  interesting  report  of  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  General  Society,  held  in  New  York  last  April : 

According  to  a  pleasant  custom  the  New  York  State  So- 
ciety was  hostess  to  the  National  Society  Daughters  of  the 
Revolution  for  the  Convention  of  1916,  at  the  Waldorf- 
Astoria,  the  Convention  of  this  year  commemorating  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  Society.  The  Silver  Jubilee 
being  an  occasion  of  great  significance  brought  together  rep- 
resentatives from  all  parts  of  the  country. 

The  formal  opening  of  the  Convention  was  on  Tuesday 
morning,  May  2d,  at  11:30.  A  procession,  led  by  juniors, 
with  past  and  present  officers  and  especially  invited  speakers, 
marched  to  the  rostrum  and  took  their  places.  Rev.  Dr. 
Robert  Clark,  Chaplain  of  the  New  York  Society,  offered  an 
invocation,  then  the  salute  and  pledge  to  the  flag  was  given  by 
the  gathering.  The  regular  program  was  an  address  of  wel- 
come by  Miss  Carville,  Regent  of  the  New  York  State  Society, 
and  was  brim-full  of  hearty  expressions  of  welcome,  and  was 
received  with  much  applause.  Mayor  Mitchell  was  to  have 
spoken  the  words  of  greeting  from  the  city,  but  was  unable 
to  attend  at  the  last  moment,  and  was  represented  by  Hon. 
Cabot  Ward,  Park  Commissioner.     Mr.  Ward  bade  the  dele- 


178  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

gates  a  hearty  welcome  in  the  name  of  the  Mayor  and  the 
City  of  New  York.  The  President-General's  address  spoke 
for  itself,  ringing  clear  the  keynote  of  patriotism.  This  was 
followed  by  the  annual  reports  of  the  different  officers. 

The  afternoon  session  was  given  over  to  the  report  of  the 
standing  committees  and  reports  of  the  State  Regents.  Break- 
ing the  regular  routine  of  the  program  for  the  afternoon  the 
Convention  was  entertained  by  Madam  Archtowska,  an  Amer- 
ican, whose  husband,  a  native  of  Poland,  made  an  address  in 
behalf  of  the  sufferers  of  Poland,  and  spoke  of  the  appropri- 
ateness of  an  organization  like  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, whose  forefathers  had  fought  beside  Kosciusko  and 
Pulaski,  repaying  the  debt  of  gratitude  by  material  help  to 
the  country  from  which  these  two  men  came  to  aid  the  Colon- 
ies in  their  time  of  need.  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  was 
then  sung  with  enthusiasm. 

The  morning  session  of  the  second  day  of  the  Convention 
opened  with  the  recital  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  unison.  The 
minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read  and  approved. 
The  Nominating  Committee  having  been  chosen  on  the  prev- 
ious day  the  election  of  officers  for  the  next  two  years  was  in 
order.  There  were  two  candidates  for  President-General: 
Mrs.  Keay,  from  Pennsylvania,  and  Mrs.  Raynor,  of  New 
York.  A  number  of  speeches  were  made  setting  forth  the 
qualifications  of  each  candidate.  When  the  ballots  were 
counted  the  Nominating  Committee  reported  that  Mrs.  Ray- 
nor had  received  the  majority  vote  and  was  therefore  de- 
clared the  President-General  for  the  next  two  years.  While 
the  ballots  were  being  counted  reports  were  still  being  read 
from  the  State  Chapters.  Miss  Hinton,  Regent  of  the  North 
Carolina  Society,  gave  a  very  complete  and  gratifying  report 
of  the  work  done  by  the  State  Society.  It  was  very  pleasing 
that  there  was  a  good  representation  from  the  "Old  North 
State." 

The  opening  feature  of  the  afternoon  session  of  May  3d 
was  a  telegram  from  West  Virginia  announcing  a  gift  of  $25 


PROCEEDINGS  1ST.  C.  SO.  D.  K.  179 

as  a  silver  jubilee  present.  Two  vocal  solos  were  rendered; 
then  several  announcements  were  made,  the  most  important 
being  an  invitation  extended  to  the  General  Society  by  Miss 
Hinton,  reading:  "The  North  Carolina  Society  cordially  in- 
vites the  General  Society  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  to  hold 
the  annual  meeting  of  1917  in  Raleigh,  North  Carolina."  On 
motion  of  Miss  Carville,  of  New  York,  seconded  by  Mrs. 
Berry,  of  Long  Island,  the  invitation  was  accepted.  The 
yearly  volume  of  the  North  Carolina  Booklet  was  pre- 
sented most  graciously  by  the  Vice-Regent,  Mrs.  Marshall 
Williams.  The  gift  was  acknowledged  by  the  President- 
General. 

A  very  pleasant  departure  from  business  was  a  visit  from 
Mrs.  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Jr.,  a  member  of  the  Woman's  Sec- 
tion Committee  of  the  Preparedness  Parade,  who  came  to 
extend  an  invitation  to  the  Daughters  to  take  part  in  the  Pre- 
paredness Divisions  of  the  patriotic  Societies. 

Now  we  will  turn  to  the  numerous  entertainments  planned 
for  the  pleasure  of  the  delegates.  There  was  a  reminder  of 
New  Amsterdam  in  the  selection  of  the  Holland  House  for 
the  reception  of  welcome  given  by  the  New  York  State  Society 
to  officers,  delegates,  and  visitors,  from  four  to  six  o'clock  on 
Monday  afternoon,  May  1st.  A  continuous  procession  passed 
down  the  line,  headed  by  Miss  Carville,  Regent  of  New  York, 
and  the  general  officers.  The  Hospitality  Committee  looked 
after  the  serving  of  refreshments  and  making  every  one  feel 
welcome.  When  the  last  strains  of  the  orchestra  died  away 
one  could  feel  "The  End  of  a  Perfect  Day." 

On  the  following  afternoon  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the 
General  Society  gave  a  tea  in  the  East  Room  of  the  Waldorf 
in  honor  of  those  on  roll  of  the  first  two  hundred  and  fifty 
members  of  the  Society.  An  invitation  was  extended  to  all 
delegates  and  visitors  to  pay  their  respects  to  these  pioneer 
members.  Conspicuous  among  the  pioneer  members  present 
was  Mrs.  Joseph  J.  Casey,  one  of  the  incorporators  and  for 
nineteen  years  Registrar-General. 


180  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

The  principal  social  function  this  year  was  a  luncheon, 
which  was  a  reversion  from  the  regular  custom  of  a  banquet. 
The  business  being  over,  every  one  was  ready  for  the  function, 
which  meant  a  good  time.  The  luncheon  was  served  in  the 
Astor  gallery,  the  hall  being  resplendent  with  decorations  of 
flags  and  flowers,  amid  its  gorgeous  hangings  of  gold.  The 
menu,  lists  of  guests  of  honor,  and  program  of  toasts  were 
enclosed  in  a  cover  of  buff,  adorned  with  a  water-color  repro- 
duction of  an  old  print  of  the  inauguration  of  George  Wash- 
ington, at  Federal  Hall,  Wall  Street,  April  30,  1789.  The 
guests  were  entertained  by  an  address  on  Preparedness,  from 
Major-General  Leonard  Wood,  of  U.  S.  A.  Mrs.  Chas.  S. 
Whitman,  the  wife  of  the  Governor  of  New  York,  was  also  a 
guest  of  honor. 

After  a  group  of  German  songs,  Mrs.  Kent,  the  toastmis- 
tress,  introduced  the  speakers,  who  were  seated  on  a  dias 
banked  with  flowers.  Each  toast  given  was  a  retrospect  of  the 
twenty-five  full  years  of  the  Society.  When  Mrs.  Bleakley, 
the  retiring  President-General;  rose  to  give  her  parting  word 
she  was  visibly  affected.  She  spoke  briefly  of  the  activities  of 
the  past  four  years,  and  urged  all  to  work  for  the  Society 
under  the  new  leadership. 

The  three  toasts  that  followed  the  President-General's  were 
given  by  ex-Presidents-General,  the  toasts  being  as  follows: 
"The  Woman  of  the  Past,"  by  Mrs.  D.  Phoenix  Ingraham; 
"The  Woman  of  the  Present,"  by  Mrs.  Adeline  P.  Fitz,  and 
"The  Woman  of  the  Future,"  by  Miss  Adaline  W.  Sterling. 
The  final  toast  was  given  by  Mrs.  Nathaniel  S.  Keay,  Vice- 
President-General. 

At  the  close  of  the  feast  gifts  were  bestowed  on  each  past 
and  present  President-General,  in  the  order  of  her  service, 
a  beautiful  pin  of  platinum  and  gold  in  the  form  of  a  friend- 
ship wreath,  to  which  was  attached  the  Society  Ribbon,  bear- 
ing in  silver  letters,  "1891-1916,"  as  an  expression  of  love 
from  the  State  Societies.  This  testimonial  came  as  a  com- 
plete surprise,  all  recipients  were  present  and  much  appre- 


PROCEEDINGS  N.  C.  SO.  D.  B.  181 

ciation  was  shown  by  the  past  officers  as  evidence  of  the  strong 
tie  that  binds  the  Daughters  together. 

At  the  coffee  stage  of  the  luncheon  two  ushers  passed  from 
table  to  table,  placing  beside  each  guest  a  box  tied  with  buff 
and  blue  ribbon,  containing  a  souvenir  in  the  form  of  a 
dainty  silver  teaspoon  of  Revolutionary  pattern,  inscribed 
"D.  R,  1891-1916." 

Friday,  May  5th,  was  set  to  show  the  visitors  New  York's 
wonderful  park-way  system.  The  weather  did  not  smile  upon 
us;  instead  showers  and  clouds  fell,  but  a  few  glimpses  of 
sunshine  insured  the  excursion.  Automobiles  were  found  at 
the  34th  street  entrance  of  the  Waldorf,  and  when  the  tourists 
had  been  placed  the  start  began.  The  route  led  through  Fifth 
Avenue,  thence  by  Pelham  to  Travers  Island,  where  the  party 
was  scheduled  to  lunch  at  the  New  York  Athletic  Club.  The 
luncheon  was  served  on  the  enclosed  balcony  of  the  Club,  and 
was  quite  refreshing.  After  luncheon  the  Daughters  re- 
turned to  their  respective  vehicles  and  started  for  Yonkers, 
through  parks  along  historic  roads.  Automobiles  sped  until 
we  reached  the  doorway  of  the  hospitable  home  of  Mrs. 
Bleakley,  who  gave  the  delegates  a  cordial  welcome;  the  re- 
freshments were  as  bountiful  as  the  greeting  was  hearty. 
Reluctantly  the  visitors  turned  toward  New  York,  carrying 
with  them  the  memory  of  a  charming  day. 

On  Saturday  morning,  May  6th,  a  pilgrimage  was  made 
around  historic  lower  New  York,  winding  up  at  Frances  Tav- 
ern for  refreshments  and  rest. 

A  glorious  May  afternoon  formed  the  beautiful  setting  for 
the  last  event  of  the  Convention,  when  a  large  company  as- 
sembled to  attend  the  opening  of  Fort  Independence  Park, 
and  to  witness  the  unveiling  of  two  bronze  memorial  tablets, 
the  gift  of  the  General  Society  Daughters  of  the  Revolution. 
These  tablets  adorn  the  gate-posts  that  stand  at  the  entrance 
of  Fort  Independence  Park,  which  includes  the  exterior  de- 
fences of  the  Revolutionary  Fort.  The  erection  of  this  splen- 
did memorial  is  due  to  the  untiring  efforts  of  Mrs.  Raynor,  the 


182  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

newly-elected  President-General.  The  retiring  President- 
General  made  a  stirring  address,  taking  as  her  theme  the 
dedication  of  the  Park  as  an  inspiration  to  the  youth  of  our 
nation.  When  the  last  strains  of  "The  Star  Spangled  Ban- 
ner" had  died  away,  the  last  chapter  of  the  Convention  of 
1916  had  passed  into  history. 

Miss  Georgia  Hicks,  of  Faison,  was  elected  Historian. 
There  will  be  no  change  in  the  officers  until  the  next  annual 
meeting,  which  will  be  held  in  Raleigh,  after  the  meeting  of 
the  General  Society,  the  invitation  extended  by  the  Blooms- 
bury  Chapter  being  accepted.  In  the  absence  of  Mrs.  L.  E. 
Covington,  Mrs.  Charles  P.  Wales  (Duncan  Cameron  Win- 
ston), formerly  a  Vice-Regent  of  the  Society,  acted  as  Re- 
cording Secretary. 

The  evening  of  the  25th  a  tea  party  was  given  by  the  Re- 
gent of  the  Penelope  Barker  Chapter  at  her  lovely  Colonial 
home  that  dates  back  to  1722,  which  was  the  scene  of  beauty, 
wit,  and  chivalry.  Flowers — golden  blossoms  predominat- 
ing— were  banked  here  and  there.  The  hostess,  assisted  by 
the  Vice-Regent  of  the  Chapter,  Miss  Caroline  W.  Coke,  re- 
ceived the  guests  in  the  front  drawing-room  with  charming 
grace.  She  wore  a  handsome  creation  of  white  chiffon,  with 
train  of  black  velvet,  and  trimmed  with  rare  lace,  an  heirloom 
handed  down  in  Mr.  Matthew's  family  in  Scotland  for  genera- 
tions, that  had  been  the  bridal  veil  of  a  relative  in  the  long- 
ago — the  Countess  of  Campbelldown.  A  feature  of  the  even- 
ing was  the  tea  party  tableau — a  table  and  several  chairs  of 
the  Revolutionary  period  were  arranged  in  the  centre  of  the 
front  drawing-room,  around  which  sat  and  stood  the  members 
of  the  Penelope  Barker  Chapter,  each  in  turn  signing  another 
document  expressing  the  friendship  and  good-will  of  this 
province  by  the  descendents  of  the  Tea  Party  signers  of  the 
distant  past.  Mrs.  Selby  Harney,  a  descendant  of  Winifred 
Hoskins,  acted  as  Secretary  of  the  Tea  Party  of  1916. 

Telegrams  of  greeting,  congratulations,  and  good  wishes 
from  Mrs.   Cordelia  Armstrong  Raynor,   President-General 


PROCEEDINGS  N.  C.  SO.  D.  R.  183 

Daughters  of  the  Revolution;  Mrs.  Alfred  Moore  Waddell, 
President  North  Carolina  Society  of  Colonial  Dames ;  the 
North  Carolina  Society  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  and  Colonel 
and  Mrs.  Charles  Earle  Johnson,  were  read  by  Miss  Hinton, 

as  follows : 

New  York,  October  24,  1916. 
Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton: 

The  President-General  sends  greetings  to  the  North  Carolina 
Society,  its  Regent  and  members.  Would  like  to  be  with  the  Pene- 
lope Barker  Chapter.  The  report  from  North  Carolina  was  inspiring 
last  Monday.  We  are  working  for  a  great  ideal :  Liberty,  Home,  and 
Country.  Cordelia  A.  Raynor. 

Miss  M.  H.  Hinton,  Regent  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  Daughters 
of  the  Revolution: 

Wilmington,  N.  C,  October  24,  1916. 
The  North  Carolina  Society  Colonial  Dames  of  America  send  greet- 
ing.    May  continued  success  attend  your  efforts  to  keep  in  remem- 
brance the  glorious  deeds  of  the  past.  G.  Waddell. 

President  N.  C.  S.  C.  D.  A. 

Raleigh,  N.  C,  October  24,  1916. 
Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton,  State  Regent  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Rev- 
olution: 
The  Society  of  Sons  of  the  Revolution  extends  congratulations  to 
the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  on  this  occasion  of  their  annual 
meeting  in  the  historic  borough  of  Edenton,  and  wishes  your  organi- 
zation all  the  success  which  the  patriotic  labors  of  its  members  so 
richly  deserve.  Marshall  DeLancy  Haywood, 

Se&y.  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution. 

Raleigh,  N.  C,  October  24,  1916. 
Miss  Hary  Hilliard  Hinton,  State  Regent  D.  R.: 

Mrs.  Johnson  and  I  wish  to  express  to  you,  and  through  you  to  the 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  our  appreciation  of  the  noble  work  being 
done  by  your  patriotic  Society,  and  to  voice  our  regret  that  we  cannot 
be  present  with  you  today  in  person,  as  we  are  in  spirit  and  in 
thought.  Chas.  E.  Johnson. 

The  State  Vice-Regent,  Mrs.  Marshall  Williams,  offered  a 
resolution  of  thanks  most  gracefully  expressed  for  the  many 
courtesies  extended  by  the  local  Chapter  Daughters  of  the 
Revolution  and  citizens  of  Edenton : 


184  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

"Scarcely  had  we  arrived  in  historical  Edenton  before  we 
realized  that  coupled  with  patriotism  was  unbounded  hospi- 
tality. 

To  the  gentlemen  of  the  Historical  Society  for  the  inter- 
esting and  delightful  boat  ride,  the  joy  experienced  as  we 
glided  along  that  'river  of  dreams,'  reflecting  and  mirroring 
the  beauties  of  lavish  nature,  is  inexpressible. 

Then  the  cup  of  refreshing  tea  and  delicious  cakes  served 
at  the  home  of  Mr.  Frank  Wood,  Miss  Carrie  Coke,  the  Vice- 
Regent  of  the  local  Chapter  being  hostess,  and  allow  us  to  re- 
peat our  thanks  for  the  recipe  of  the  famous  Penelope  Barker 
tea  cakes,  useful  souvenirs  indeed. 

Welcome  evening  made  us  feel  very  much  at  home  through 
the  courtesy  of  your  Regent,  Mrs.  Patrick  Matthew,  who 
greeted  us  in  her  own  charming  way  and  then  a  welcome  from 
that  prince  of  gentlemen,  Dr.  Dillard.  Indeed  we  were  en- 
tranced to  feel  ourselves  seated  in  the  House  of  Burgesses 
and  hear  the  history  of  the  famous  judges  who  sojourned 
here. 

The  exercises  in  St.  Paul's  Church  were  an  inspiration, 
and  we  rejoice  with  the  Edenton  people  in  having  Mr.  Huske 
of  New  Berne  to  present  the  tablet.  We  were  glad  to  see  so 
many  school  children  present  to  witness  this  eventful  cere- 
mony. 

We  enjoyed  the  address  of  Colonel  Grimes  when  the  Iredell 
tablet  was  unveiled  and  the  acceptance  by  the  silver  tongued 
orator,  Dr.  Dillard.  Of  especial  interest  was  our  visit  to  the 
home  of  Mrs.  Gordon. 

It  was  pleasant  to  visit  the  artistic  and  beautiful  new 
Academy  and  again  witness  another  tablet  unveiled  and  ac- 
cepted by  Mr.  Pruden,  Chairman  of  Trustees. 

Long  to  be  remembered  was  the  unveiling  of  the  tablet  at 
the  court  house  to  the  women  of  the  Edenton  Tea  Party,  and 
Colonel  Vann's  tribute  to  womanhood  and  the  acceptance  by 
Mr.  F.  W.  Hobbs,  Clerk  of  the  Court. 

The  Society  of  the  visiting  Daughters  is  greatly  indebted 


PROCEEDINGS  N.  C.  SO.  D.  E.  185 

to  Mrs.  Pruden  and  Mrs.  John  Wood  for  a  real  peep  into  the 
fireside  and  social  life  of  the  charming  and  cultured  homes  of 
Edenton — rich  in  rare  and  interesting  relics. 

Our  Society  was  honored  by  the  presence  of  Colonel  Olds, 
State  Historian. 

Last,  but  by  no  means  least,  were  our  delightful  moments 
spent  in  the  Italian  garden  of  the  genial  host,  Dr.  Dillard, 
where  we  walked  with  Milton  in  a  Paradise  and  dreamed  with 
Dante  of  Beatrice. 

All  good  things  must  end  save  one.  Among  the  choice 
things  of  earth  there  is  nothing  so  fair  as  memory ;  without  it 
there  would  be  no  history,  no  friendship,  no  love  of  patriotic 
tradition. 

So  we  will  take  with  us  in  memory's  storehouse  this  de- 
lightful occasion,  showered  with  intellectual  gifts  and  gracious 
hospitality,  and  will  count  it  another  pearl  in  our  rosary  of 
grateful  thoughts." 

Witty  toasts  by  Mrs.  Williams  and  Mrs.  Matthew  were 
given.  Delicious  refreshments  in  two  courses  with  the  cup 
of  tea,  brewed  as  nowhere  else  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
were  served.  Miss  Hinton  and  Mrs.  Williams  presided  at  the 
tea  table.  After  reading  a  list  of  the  achievements  of  the 
North  Carolina  Society  Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  the  Re- 
gent expressed,  on  behalf  of  the  Society,  appreciation  of  the 
cordiality  and  delightful  hospitality  of  the  Edentonians  and 
good-nights  were  said. 

WHAT  THE  NORTH   CAROLINA   SOCIETY   DAUGHTERS   OF 

THE  REVOLUTION  HAS  ACCOMPLISHED  SINCE 

IT  WAS  FOUNDED,  OCTOBER  19,  1896. 

Raised  funds  through  the  publication  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Booklet  to  erect  a  bronze  tablet,  cast  by  Gorham  and 
Company,  to  the  memory  of  the  fifty-one  signers  of  the  Eden- 
ton Tea  Party,  in  the  State  Capitol  at  Raleigh,  the  first  mem- 
morial  to  adorn  that  building,  in  October,  1908. 

Since  May,  10,  1901,  has  published  the  North  Carolina 
Booklet,  an  historical  magazine,  devoted  to  North  Carolina 


186  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

History — "Great  Events  in  North  Carolina  History."  It 
has  just  entered  upon  the  sixteenth  volume.  The  editors 
and  contributors  have  always  served  without  remuneration. 
There  is  no  capital  stock,  the  periodical  being  run  on  faith, 
as  it  were,  but  more  than  five  thousand  dollars  have  been 
spent  in  publishing  it  and  about  a  thousand  dollars  have  been 
cleared,  all  made  from  the  subscriptions  and  advertisements. 
More  than  three  hundred  articles  have  been  contributed  by 
one  hundred  and  five  writers,  thirty-two  of  these  being  women. 
It  goes  to  all  the  libraries  of  our  greatest  Universities  and 
the  great  libraries  of  the  country,  and  to  many  colleges.  It 
has  subscribers  in  twenty-eight  States  of  the  Union,  Great 
Britain,  and  India. 

The  site  of  the  meeting  of  the  Grand  Albemarle  Assembly, 
February  6,  1665,  was  located  and  marked  by  a  handsome 
tablet,  June  11,  1910,  by  the  Sir  Walter  Ealeigh  Chapter  of 
Elizabeth  City. 

A  marble  tablet  has  been  placed  in  the  High  School  of 
Elizabeth  City,  containing  a  record  of  the  great  events  in  the 
history  of  Pasquotank  County,  the  work  of  the  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  Chapter. 

A  room  bearing  the  name  "Virginia  Dare  Room,"  in  the 
hospital  at  Elizabeth  City,  has  been  furnished  by  the  two 
Junior  Chapters  of  that  town — the  Virginia  Dare  and  Ensi- 
nore. 

On  April  26,  1911,  the  Bloomsbury  Chapter  erected  a  tab- 
let and  boulder  to  mark  the  location  of  the  site  of  the  old  town 
of  Bloomsbury,  where  our  capital  city  now  stands. 

On  April  23,  1913,  the  Bloomsbury  Chapter  placed  a 
bronze  tablet  on  the  City  Municipal  Building,  to  the  memory 
of  Colonel  Joel  Lane,  who  was  instrumental  in  locating  the 
capital  at  Raleigh. 

The  set  of  one  hundred  and  nine  lantern  slides,  ninety-four 
of  which  are  colored,  and  the  lecture  that  accompanies  them, 
"Stories  From  North  Carolina  History,"  is  the  work  of  the 
entire  State  Society. 


PROCEEDINGS  N".  C.  SO.  D.  R.  187 

The  Penelope  Barker  Chapter,  at  Edenton,  has  erected  the 
following  tablets: 

A  tablet  on  the  exterior  of  St.  Paul's  Church. 

A  tablet  on  the  exterior  of  the  court  house. 

A  bronze  tablet  on  the  east  side  of  the  court  house,  contain- 
ing the  Tea  Party  Resolutions  and  the  names  of  the  fifty-one 
signers. 

A  bronze  tablet  on  the  south  side  of  the  Edenton  Academy, 
dedicated  to  its  founders. 

A  marble  tablet  in  the  interior  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  dedi- 
cated to  its  vestrymen  who  signed  the  "Test"  for  American 
Independence. 

A  marble  tablet  in  the  great  brick  chimney  of  Judge  James 
Iredell's  home. 

A  complete  map  and  key  of  St.  Paul's  churchyard  have  been 
made  by  the  Penelope  Barker  Chapter,  and  presented  to  the 
said  Parish. 

Twenty-five  gold  medals  have  been  presented  in  the  public 
schools  of  North  Carolina  to  pupils  writing  the  best  essays  on 
some  given  historical  subject,  North  Carolina  history  being 
selected. 

The  North  Carolina  Society  assisted  in  collecting,  install- 
ing, taking  care  of,  packing  and  recording  the  North  Carolina 
Historical  Exhibit  at  Jamestown  Exposition  in  1907. 

The  Society  has  contributed  liberally  towards  funds  used 
in  erecting  monuments  by  the  General  Society  at  Valley 
Forge,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  where  General  Washing- 
ton took  command  of  the  American  Army  under  the  historic 
elm  on  Cambridge  Common,  and  the  bronze  tablet  to  the  sea- 
men of  the  American  Navy  during  the  Revolution  that  was 
placed  in  Bancroft  Hall,  Annapolis,  in  May,  1910. 

Marking  the  grave  of  Sergeant  Koen,  of  the  Revolution, 
by  the  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  Chapter. 

Placing  a  tombstone  over  the  grave  of  General  Isaac  Greg- 
ory, in  the  Gregory  burying  ground  at  "Fairfax." 

—6 


188  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Publishing  the  original  historical  papers  of  Miss  Catherine 
Albertson,  in  a  book  entitled,  "In  Ancient  Albemarle." 

The  tablet  erected  by  the  Red  Men,  through  the  Penelope 
Barker  Chapter,  on  the  exterior  of  the  court  house,  Eden- 
ton,  K  C. 

Thursday  morning  was  devoted  to  sight-seeing.  The 
Cupola  House,  where  Miss  Bond  requested  the  Daughters  to 
register  in  the  guest  book  that  only  contained  the  autographs 
of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  when  they  visited  this  Colo- 
nial mansion,  St.  Paul's  churchyard,  and  "Hayes"  were 
visited.  The  grave  of  Penelope  Barker,  in  the  burying- 
ground  at  "Hayes,"  where  she  sleeps  beside  her  husband, 
Thomas  Barker,  was  strewn  with  golden  flowers  by  the 
Daughters. 

The  delegates  left  at  noon,  carrying  the  happiest  recollec- 
tions of  their  Twentieth  Annual  Meeting,  of  the  one-time  cap- 
ital of  North  Carolina  and  her  hospitable  inhabitants,  worthy 
inheritors  of  her  glorious  past  and  noble  men  and  women. 

The  officers  of  the  Society  are :  Regent,  Miss  Mary  Hilliard 
Hinton;  Vice-Regent,  Mrs.  Marshall  Williams;  Honorary 
Regents,  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt  and  Mrs.  T.  K.  Bruner ;  Record- 
ing Secretary,  Mrs.  L.  E.  Covington;  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary, Mrs.  Paul  H.  Lee ;  Treasurer,  Mrs.  Charles  Lee  Smith ; 
Registrar,  Miss  Sarah  W.  Ashe. 


Vol.  XVIII  JULY,  1918  No.  1 


North  Carolina  Booklet 


'Carolina!  Carolina!  Heaven's  blessings  attend  her! 
While  we  live  zve  will  cherish,  protect  and  defend  her' 


Published  by 

THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 

DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


The  object  of  The  Booklet  is  to  aid  in  developing  and  preserving 
North  Carolina  History.  The  proceeds  arising  from  its  publication 
will  be  devoted  to  patriotic  purposes.  Editor. 


RALEIGH 

COMMERCIAL  PRINTING  COMPANY 

PRINTERS   AND  BINDERS 


ADVISORY  BOARD  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 


Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood. 
Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 
Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor. 
Dr.  D.  H.  Hill. 
Dr.  William  K.  Boyd. 
Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe. 
Miss  Adelaide  L.  Fries. 


Miss  Martha  Helen  Haywood. 

Dr.  Richard  Dillard. 

Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle. 

Mr.  James  Sprunt. 

Mr.  Marshall  DeLancey  Haywood. 

Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 

Major  W.  A.  Graham. 


Dr.  Charles  Lee  Smith. 

editor  : 

Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton. 

BIOGRAPHICAL  EDITOR  : 

Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 
DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

1918-1919 


Mrs.  Marshall  Williams, 
Regent,  Faison. 

Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt,  Honorary 
Regent,  Richmond,  Va. 

Mrs.  Thomas  K.  Bruner, 
Honorary  Regent,  Raleigh. 

Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton, 
1st  Vice-Regent,  Raleigh. 

Mrs.  Paul  H.  Lee,  2d  Vice- 
Regent,  Raleigh. 

Mrs.  George  P.  Pell,  Recording 
Secretary,  Raleigh. 

Miss  Winifred  Faison,  Corre- 
sponding Secretary,  Faison. 


Miss  Georgia  Hicks,  Historian, 

Faison. 
Mrs.  Charles  Lee  Smith, 

Treasurer,  Raleigh. 
Mrs.  George  Ramsey,  Registrar, 

Raleigh. 
Mrs.  John  E.  Ray,  Custodian  of 

Relics,  Raleigh. 
Mrs.  Laurence  Covington, 

Executive  Secretary,  Raleigh. 
Mrs  Charles  Wales, 

Genealogist,  Edenton. 
Miss  Catherine  Albertson, 

Junior  Director,  Elizabeth  City. 


CHAPTER  REGENTS 

Bloomsbury  Chapter Mrs.  Paul  H.  Lee,  Regent. 

Penelope  Barker  Chapter ,  Regent. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  Chapter Mrs.  I.  M.  Meekins,  Regent. 

General  Francis  Nash  Chapter Miss  Rebecca  Cameron,  Regent. 

Roanoke  Chapter Mrs.  F.  M.  Allen,  Regent. 

Mary  Slocumb  Chapter Miss  Georgia  Hicks,  Regent. 

Colonel  Thomas  Robeson  Chapter Mrs.  Annie  Bute,  Regent. 

Tuscarora  Chapter Mrs.  C.  H.  Hunter,  Regent. 


Founder  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  and  Regent  1896-1902 : 

Mrs.  SPIER  WHITAKER.* 

Regent   1902: 

Mrs.  D.  H.  HILL,  SR.f 

Regent  1902-1906: 

Mrs.  THOMAS  K.  BRUNER. 

Regent  1906-1910: 

Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 

Regent  1910-1917: 

Miss  MARY  HILLIARD  HINTON. 


*Died  November  25, 1911. 
tDied  December  12. 1904. 


The  North  Carolina  Booklet 

Vol.  XVIII  JULY,  1918  No.  1 

ISAAC  SHELBY 

Revolutionary  Patriot  and  Border  Hero 


Part  11—1780-1783 
By  Archibald  Henderson 

III 

At  the  appointed  time,  September  25,  the  several  forces 
united  at  the  rendezvous,  already  rendered  famous  by  the 
great  treaty  held  by  Colonel  Richard  Henderson  with  the 
Cherokees  there  in  March  1775,  the  Sycamore  Shoals  of  the 
Watauga.  Hither  came  Colonel  William  Campbell  with  two 
hundred  men,  Colonel  Arthur  Campbell  with  two  hundred 
men,  Colonel  Isaac  Shelby  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  Se- 
vier with  two  hundred  and  forty- men  each — uniting  with  the 
force  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  men  under  Colonel  Charles 
McDowell  and  Major  Joseph  McDowell,  who  had  been  en- 
camped there  for  some  time.  An  "express"  sent  by  Colonel 
William  Campbell  from  Washington  County,  Virginia,  had 
already  notified  Colonel  Benjamin  Cleveland  of  Wilkes 
County,  North  Carolina,  of  the  plan ;  and  'Cleveland  was  also 
urged  by  an  "express"  from  Colonel  McDowell  to  join  the 
"over-mountain  men"  on  the  east  side  of  the  mountains  with 
as  large  a  force  as  he  could  raise. 

The  task  of  raising  funds  to  equip  the  forces  of  Shelby  and 
Sevier,  and  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  campaign  was  an 
extremely  difficult  problem.  The  settlers  generally  had  ex- 
pended their  available  money  for  their  lands ;  and  so  the  only 
available  funds  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Entry-taker  of  Sulli- 
van County,  John  Adair.     When  Sevier  applied  to  him  for 


4  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET 

the  money  needed  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  military  expe- 
dition, Adair  replied : 

Colonel  Sevier,  I  have  no  authority  by  law  to  make  that  disposition 
of  this  money.  It  belongs  to  the  impoverished  treasury  of  North 
Carolina,  and  I  dare  not  appropriate  a  cent  of  it  to  any  purpose. 
But,  if  the  country  is  over-run  by  the  British,  liberty  is  gone.  Let  the 
money  go  too.  Take  it.  If  the  enemy,  by  its  use,  is  driven  from  the 
country,  I  can  trust  that  country  to  justify  and  vindicate  my  conduct. 
Take  it. 

For  this  indispensable  sum,  amounting  to  twelve  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  thirty-five  dollars,  Shelby  and  Sevier 
pledged  themselves  to  see  it  refunded  or  its  use  legalized  by 
an  act  of  the  Legislature;  and  this  recognizance  was  after- 
wards scrupulously  fulfilled.1 

It  seemed  to  the  enemy  that  the  over-mountain  men  had 
been  assembled  as  if  by  magic.  "The  wild  and  fierce  inhabi- 
tants of  .  .  .  (the)  settlements  westward  of  the  Alleghany 
mountains,"  said  Mackenzie  in  his  Strictures,  "assembled 
suddenly  and  silently."  In  his  letter  of  October  24,  1780, 
Lord  Rawdon  significantly  observed :  "A  numerous  army  now 
appeared  on  the  frontier,  drawn  from  ISTolachucky,  and  other 
settlements  beyond  the  mountains,  whose  very  names  had  been 
unknown  to  us."  On  September  26,  this  force  of  one  thou- 
sand and  forty  frontiersmen  set  forth  upon  the  march.  Be- 
fore leaving  the  camp  at  Watauga,  a  farewell  sermon  was 
delivered  by  the  Reverend  Samuel  Doak,  who  (according  to 
trustworthy  tradition)  urged  them  to  do  battle  valiantly,  clos- 
ing with  a  stirring  invocation  to  "the  sword  of  the  Lord  and 
of  Gideon" — a  sentiment  greeted  with  a  lusty  shout  of 
acclaim  from  the  hardy  mountaineers.  At  Quaker  Meadows 
in  Burke  County,  the  famous  home  of  the  McDowells,  which 
they  reached  on  September  30,  there  was  encamped  a  force 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty  militia — the  hardy  followers  of 
that  fierce  and  blood-thirsty  fighter,  Colonel  Benjamin  Cleve- 
land, "Old  Roundabout,"  who  called  themselves  "Cleveland's 
Bulldogs"  ;  the  stalwart  riflemen  of  Rutherford  under  Colonel 


JRainsey  :  Annals  of  Tennessee,  226. 


ISAAC    SHELBY 


Andrew  Hampton,  and  the  flower  of  the  militant  citizenship 
of  Surry  led  by  a  born  leader  of  men,  a  cousin  of  Patrick 
Henry,  Colonel  Joseph  Winston.2 

Already  on  September  14  preceding,  General  William  Lee 
Davidson  had  ordered  Cleveland  to  unite  with  other  forces  to 
resist  Ferguson's  advance;  and  under  the  present  plan  the 
prospects  seemed  to  favor  successful  resistance.  The  com- 
manders of  the  different  divisions,  all  of  whom  had  acted  with 
executive  authority,  controlled  their  troops  only  through  vol- 
untary agreement  on  the  part  of  the  privates.  In  view  of 
petty  disorders  and  insubordination,  the  commanding  officers 
on  the  second  day  (October  2)  after  resuming  the  march,  held 
a  conference  to  devise  plans  for  quieting  the  disturbances, 
and  also  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  a  leader.  "It  was 
resolved,"  says  Shelby  in  his  Pamphlet  (1823),  "to  send  to 
Head-Quarters  for  a  general  officer  to  command  us ;  and  that, 
in  the  mean  time,  we  should  meet  in  council  every  day  to 
determine  on  the  measures  to  be  pursued,  and  appoint  any  of 
our  own  body  to  put  them  in  execution.  I  was  not  satisfied 
with  this  course,  as  I  thought  it  calculated  to  produce  delay, 
when  expedition  and  dispatch  were  all  important  to  us.  We 
were  then  in  sixteen  or  eighteen  miles  of  Gilbert  Town,  where 
we  supposed  Ferguson  to  be.  I  suggested  these  things  to  the 
council,  and  then  observed  to  the  officers,  that  we  were  all 
North  Carolinians  except  Col.  Campbell,  who  was  from  Vir- 
ginia ;  that  I  knew  him  to  be  a  man  of  good  sense,  and  warmly 
attached  to  the  cause  of  his  country;  that  he  commanded  the 
largest  regiment;  and  that  if  they  concurred  with  me,  until 
a  general  officer  should  arrive  from  Head-Quarters,  appoint 
him  to  command  us,  and  march  immediately  against  the 
enemy.  To  this  proposition  some  one  or  two  said  'agreed.' 
No  written  minute  or  record  was  made  of  it."3  Shelby 
acknowledges  that  that  he  did  this  to  "silence  the  expectation 


2A.  C.  Avery:  "Quaker  Meadows,"  in  North  Carolina  Booklet,  IV,  No.  3; 
W.  A.  Graham  :  General  Joseph  Graham,  273-283  ;  G.  T.  Winston  :  "The  Life 
and  Times  of  Major  Joseph  Winston,"  1895  ;  J.  Crouch  :  "The  Life  and  Char- 
acter of  Col.  Benjamin  Cleveland,"  1908. 

3Appendix  to  L.  C  Draper's  King's  Mountain  and  its  Heroes,  564. 


6  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

of  Col.  McDowell"  to  command  the  expedition.  This  was 
a  legitimate  expectation  on  the  part  of  Col.  McDowell,  who 
was  the  commanding  officer  of  the  district  in  which  the  force 
was  operating,  and  had,  as  Shelby  further  admits,  "com- 
manded the  armies  of  militia  in  that  quarter  all  the  summer 
before  against  the  same  enemy."  The  objections  urged 
against  McDowell  by  Shelby  were  that  he  was  "too  far 
advanced  in  life"  and  "too  inactive"  for  the  command  of  an 
expedition  which  required  extraordinary  resources  in  strength 
and  endurance.  The  first  objection,  mentioned  by  Shelby  at 
the  advanced  age  of  seventy-three,  is  not  founded  on  fact,  and 
was  perhaps  due  to  defective  memory;  for  McDowell  was 
a  vigorous  young  man  of  thirty-seven  in  1780.  In  his 
narrative,4  Shelby  states  merely  that  McDowell  "was  too 
slow  an  officer"  for  the  enterprise.  There  was  at  no  time  any 
question  of  the  bravery  or  patriotism  of  McDowell.5 

During  the  progress  of  the  conference,  Campbell  took 
Shelby  aside  and  requested  that  his  name  be  withdrawn  and 
that  Shelby  himself  take  the  command.  To  this,  Shelby  very 
correctly  replied  that  he  was  the  youngest  Colonel  present; 
and  that  McDowell  under  whom  he  had  served,  would  resent 
his  elevation  to  the  chief  command.  Shelby  probably  realized 
that  the  over-mountain  men,  at  all  times  unaccustomed  to 
strict  military  discipline  and  somewhat  prone  to  insubordina- 
tion, would  not  readily  accept  the  leadership  in  this  meteoric 
campaign  of  a  militia  commander  conspicuous  neither  for  rare 
discretion  nor  for  exceptional  efficiency.  The  selection  of 
Campbell  was  undoubtedly  a  temporary  expedient,  a  tactful 
mode  of  bridging  an  awkward  situation;  yet  it  is  clear  that 
these  border  leaders  would  never  have  agreed  to  Shelby's  sug- 
gestion that  the  chief  command  be  given,  even  temporarily,  to 
Campbell,  had  they  not  recognized  in  him  an  efficient  leader 
and  known  him  to  be  a  true  soldier.     One  final  conclusion  is 


iAmerican  Review,  December,  1848. 

BOther  graver  objections  to  the  selection  of  McDowell  as  leader  of  the  cam- 
paign have  been  mentioned.  In  this  connection  see  Draper's  King's  Moun- 
tain and  Its  Heroes,  87-9,  and  A.  C.  Avery's  "Burke  County,"  90,  in  Western 
North  Carolina  (1890). 


ISAAC    SHELBY  7 

irresistible :  that  Shelby  himself,  as  originator  and  prime 
mover  in  the  expedition,  more  than  any  other  was  entitled  to 
the  chief  command. 

Colonel  McDowell,  who,  as  Shelby  frankly  says,  "had  the 
good  of  his  country  more  at  heart  than  any  title  of  command," 
cheerfully  acquiesced  in  the  council's  decision;  but  observed 
that  as  he  was  not  to  have  the  chief  command,  he  would  volun- 
teer to  convey  to  headquarters  at  Hillsborough  the  request  for 
a  general  officer.  On  October  4,  McDowell  started  on  his 
errand  from  the  mouth  of  Cane  Creek  near  Gilbert  Town, 
where  the  American  force  was  encamped.6  He  bore  with 
him  a  significant  letter,  to  which  the  chief  historian  of  the 
battle  did  not  have  access.7  He  left  his  men  under  the  com- 
mand of  his  brother,  Major  Joseph  McDowell.  Colonel 
Campbell  now  assumed  temporarily  the  chief  command,  but 
he  was  to  be  regulated  and  directed  by  the  determinations  of 
the  Colonels,  who  were  to  meet  in  council  every  day.  It  is 
noticeable  that  the  list  of  signatures  is  not  headed  by  that  of 
Campbell,  and  does  not  include  that  of  Charles  McDowell, 
the  bearer. 

Rutherford  County,  Camp  near  Gilberttown 
Oct  4,  1780. 

Sir,  We  have  now  collected  at  this  place  about  1500  good  men, 
drawn  from  the  Counties  of  Surry,  Wilkes,  Burke,  Washington  and 
Sullivan  Counties  in  this  State,  and  Washington  County  in  Virginia, 
and  expect  to  be  joined  in  a  few  days  by  Col.  Clarke  of  Georgia,  and 
Col.  Williams  of  South  Carolina,  with  about  1000  more — As  we  have 
at  this  time  called  out  our  Militia  without  any  orders  from  the 
Executive  of  our  different  States,  and  with  the  view  of  Expelling  the 
Enemy  out  of  this  part  of  the  Country,  we  think  such  a  body  of  men 
worthy  of  your  attention,  and  would  request  you  to  send  a  General 
Officer,  immediately  to  take  the  command  of  such  Troops  as  may 
embody  in  this  quarter — Our  Troops  being  all  Militia,  and  but  little 


6It  is  worthy  of  note  that,  on  his  way  to  Hillsborough,  McDowell  called  at 
the  camp  of  Lacy  and  Hill,  with  their  South  Carolinians,  and  at  that  of  Yv  11- 
liams  with  the  Rowan  Corps,  at  Flint  Hill,  a  dozen  miles  or  so  to  the  eastward 
of  the  head  of  Cane  Creek.  These  forces,  being  thus  notified  of  the  march 
against  Ferguson,  formed  a  junction  with  Campbell's  forces  on  October  6. 

7Draper  makes  no  mention  of  this  letter,  the  original  of  which  is  in  the 
Gates  Papers,  Archives  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society.  For  a  transcript 
of  this  letter  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Wilberforce  Eames,  of  the  New  York  Public 
Library,  and  to  Mr.  Robert  H.  Kelby,  Librarian  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society. 


8  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

acquainted  with  discipline,  we  could  wish  him  to  be  a  Gentleman  of 
address,  and  able  to  keep  up  a  proper  discipline,  without  disgusting 
the  Soldiery — Every  assistance  in  our  power,  shall  be  given  the  Offi- 
cer you  may  think  proper  to  take  the  command  of  us. 

It  is  the  wish  of  such  of  us  as  are  acquainted  with  General  David- 
son and  Col.  Morgan  (if  in  service)  that  one  of  them  Gentlemen  may 
be  appointed  to  this  command. 

We  are  in  great  want  of  Ammunition,  and  hope  you  will  endeavor 
to  have  us  properly  furnished  with  that  Article. 

Col.  McDowell  will  wait  upon  you  with  this,  who  can  inform  you 
of  the  present  situation  of  the  Enemy,  and  such  other  particulars 
respecting  our  Troops  as  you  may  think  necessary. 
We  are  Sir,  Your  most  obdt.  and  very  hble.  Servts. 

Benja.  Cleveland, 
Isaac  Shelby. 
John    Sevier, 
Andw.  Hampton, 
Wm.   Campbell, 
Jo.  Winston. 
(Endorsed) 
(Public  Service) 

The  Honorable  Major  General 
Horatio  Gates 

Commander  in  Chief  of 

the  Southern  Army. 
By  Col.  Charles  McDowell     Major  General   Smallwood 

Letter  from 

Col.  Cleveland  &c8 
4th  October  80. 

A  memorable  incident,  indicative  of  the  indomitable  de- 
termination of  the  American  forces,  deserves  record  here. 
Before  resuming  the  march  on  October  3,  the  Colonels  noti- 
fied the  assembled  troops  of  the  nature  and  hazard  of  the 
enterprise  before  them ;  and  the  offer  was  made  that  any  one 
who  so  desired,  might  withdraw  then  and  there  from  the  cam- 
paign.    Shelby  thus  laconically  addressed  the  men  : 

You  have  all  been  informed  of  the  offer.  You  who  desire  to 
decline  it,  will,  when  the  word  is  given,  march  three  steps  to  the  rear, 
and  stand,  prior  to  which  a  few  more  minutes  will  be  granted  you 
for  consideration. 


aCf.  N.  C.  State  Records,  xiv,  663-4.  A  photographic  facsimile  of  the  signa- 
tures to  this  letter,  made  at  my  order  from  the  original  letter,  shows  that, 
contrary  to  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  who  spells  it  "Cleavland,"  the 
correct  spelling  is   "Cleveland." 


ISAAC    SHELBY  9 

After  a  pause  the  order  was  given  that  "those  who  desired 
to  hack  out  would  step  three  paces  to  the  rear,"  but  not  a  man 
withdrew.  Shelby  then  addressed  the  men  in  words  which 
convey  a  vivid  impression  of  the  spirit  of  the  movement  and 
the  character  of  the  campaign : 

I  am  heartily  glad  to  see  you  to  a  man  resolve  to  meet  and  fight 
your  country's  foes.  When  we  encounter  the  enemy,  don't  wait  for 
the  word  of  command.  Let  each  one  of  you  be  your  own  officer,  and 
do  the  very  best  you  can,  taking  every  care  you  can  of  yourselves, 
and  availing  yourselves  of  every  advantage  that  chance  may  throw  in 
your  way.  If  in  the  woods,  shelter  yourselves,  and  give  them  Indian 
play ;  advance  from  tree  to  tree,  pressing  the  enemy  and  killing  and 
disabling  all  you  can.  Your  officers  will  shrink  from  no  danger — 
they  will  be  consistently  with  you,  and  the  moment  the  enemy  give 
war,  be  on  the  alert  and  strictly  obey  orders.9 

The  taunt  of  Ferguson,  by  which  he  had  hoped  to  intimi- 
date the  men  of  the  back-country,  evoked  a  retort  he  little 
expected.  Ferguson's  principal  object  at  this  time  was  to 
strike  a  crushing  blow  at  the  small  band  of  partisans  under 
Captain  Elijah  Clarke,  who  about  the  middle  of  September 
was  threatening  Augusta,  Georgia,  and  was  still  hovering 
dangerously  near  the  Carolina  line.  Ferguson  was  hoping 
for  and  expecting  the  return  of  furloughed  loyalists  in  large 
numbers  under  Gibbes,  the  militia  under  Cruger  at  Ninety- 
Six,  or  Tarleton's  Legion  ordered  thither  by  Cornwallis.  Two 
deserters  from  the  camp  of  the  Americans  came  in  on  Septem- 
ber 30  to  warn  Ferguson  of  the  approach  of  the  frontier  army. 
Had  Ferguson  struck  straight  for  Charlotte  and  a  junction 
there  with  Cornwallis,  he  might  have  eluded  Campbell's 
force.  But  he  was  confronted  with  the  danger  of  permitting 
the  union  of  the  forces  of  Clarke  and  Campbell ;  the  necessity 
of  recalling  numerous  Tories,  absent  on  furlough  belonging 
to  his  own  force ;  and  the  danger  of  disaffection  to  the  loyalist 
cause  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  that  region.  Perhaps  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Cruger  had  a  deeper  insight  into  the  nature  of 
the  situation  than  had  Ferguson;  for  in  his  reply  (October  3, 
1780)   to  Ferguson's  dispatch  of  September  30th,  with  its 

testimony  of  John  Spelts,  called  "Continental  Jack,"   who  was  present. 


10  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

alarming  news  of  "so  considerable  (a)  force  as  you  understand 
is  coming  from  the  mountains,"  Cruger  makes  these  eminently 
sane  observations:  "I  Don't  see  how  you  can  possibly  (de- 
fend) the  country  and  its  neighborhood  that  you  (are)  now 
in.  ...  I  flattered  myself  they  (the  Tory  militia) 
would  have  been  equal  to  the  mountain  lads,  and  that  no 
further  call  for  the  defensive  would  have  been  (made  ?)  on 
this  part  of  the  Province.  I  begin  to  think  our  views  for 
the  present  rather  large.  We  have  been  led  to  this,  proba- 
bly, in  expecting  too  much  from  the  militia."10 

Aware  of  some  of  the  dangers  incident  to  the  situation, 
Ferguson  despatched  messengers  to  Cornwallis,  asking  for 
assistance ;  but  these,  being  pursued,  were  delayed  by  reason 
of  the  circuitous  route  they  were  forced  to  take,  and  so  did  not 
reach  Charlotte  until  the  day  after  the  battle  at  King's  Moun- 
tain. Ferguson  scorned  to  seek  protection  by  making  a 
forced  march  in  order  to  effect  a  junction  with  Cornwallis  at 
Charlotte.  He  preferred  to  make  a  stand,  and,  if  possible, 
to  dispose  once  for  all  of  this  barbarian  mountain  horde. 
From  his  camp  Ferguson  issued  the  following  inflammatory 
and  obscene  appeal  to  the  people,  well  calculated  to  arouse 
their  bitter  hostility  to  the  approaching  band,  which  he  char- 
acterized as  murderers  of  men  and  ravishers  of  women. 

Denard's  Ford,  Broad  River, 
Tryon  County,  October  1,  1780. 

Gentlemen  : — Unless  you  wish  to  be  eat  up  by  an  inundation  of  bar- 
barians, who  have  begun  by  murdering  an  unarmed  son  before  his 
aged  father  and  afterward  lopped  off  his  arms,  and  who  by  their 
shocking  cruelties  and  irregularities,  give  the  best  proof  of  their 
cowardice  and  want  of  discipline ;  I  say  if  you  want  to  be  pinioned, 
robbed,  and  murdered,  and  see  your  wives  and  daughters,  in  four 
days,  abused  by  the  dregs  of  mankind — in  short,  if  you  wish  or 
deserve  to  live,  and  bear  the  name  of  men  grasp  your  arms  in  a  mo- 
ment and  run  to  camp. 

The  Back  Water  men  have  crossed  the  mountains ;  McDowell, 
Hampton,  Shelby,  and  Cleveland  are  at  their  head,  so  that  you  know 


10This  letter  was  found  on  Ferguson's  dead  body,   after  the  battle  of  King's 
Mountain.     See  Ramsey :  Annals  of  Tennessee,  241-2. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  11 

what  you  have  to  depend  upon.  If  you  choose  to  be  p — d  upon  by 
a  set  of  mongrels,  say  so  at  once,  and  let  your  women  turn  their 
backs  upon  you  and  look  out  for  real  men  to  protect  them. 

Pat.  Ferguson, 
Major  list  Regiment?1 

Loitering  on  his  march,  presumably  in  the  hope  of  striking- 
Clarke,  Ferguson  did  not  reach  King's  Mountain  until  Octo- 
ber 6.  On  reaching  Gilbert  Town  (near  Rutherfordton, 
!N".  C.)  on  October  4,  the  Americans  discovered  that  Fergu- 
son had  retired.  "Having  gained  a  knowledge  of  his  design," 
related  Shelby,  "it  was  determined  in  a  council  of  the  princi- 
pal officers  to  pursue  him  with  all  possible  dispatch.  Ac- 
cordingly two  nights  before  the  action  the  officers  were 
engaged  all  night  in  selecting  the  best  men,  the  best  horses 
and  the  best  rifles,  and  at  the  dawn  of  day  took  Ferguson's 
trail  and  pursued  him.  .  .  .  The  mountain  men  had 
turned  out  to  catch  Ferguson.  He  was  their  object,  and  for 
the  last  thirty-six  hours  they  never  alighted  from  their  horses 
but  once  to  refresh  at  the  Cowpens  for  an  hour  (where  they 
were  joined  by  Col.  Williams  of  South  Carolina,  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  6th  with  about  400  men),  although  the  day  of  the 
action  was  so  extremely  wet  that  the  men  could  only  keep  their 
guns  dry  by  wrapping  their  bags,  blankets  and  hunting  shirts 
around  the  locks,  which  exposed  their  bodies  to  a  heavy  and 
incessant  rain."12 

In  this  connection,  there  is  need  of  further  detail  in  regard 
to  the  force  under  Williams.  The  account  given  by  Draper 
is  at  once  imperfect  and  distorted ;  and  his  estimate  is  griev- 
ously warped  by  the  prejudiced  account  written  by  South 
Carolinians  who  held  Williams  in  detestation.  James  D. 
Williams  was  not  a  South  Carolinian ;  he  was  born  in  Han- 
over County,  Virginia,  in  November,  1740.  Since  childhood 
he  had  lived  in  Granville  County,  N.  C,  whither  the  Williams 


^Virginia  Gazette,  November  11,  1780.  The  barbarous  atrocity  alluded  to  at 
the  beginning  of  this  letter  is  unsupported  by  evidence  of  any  kind. 

^Autobiography  of  Isaac  Shelby,  an  exact  transcription  of  which  I  procured 
from  the  late  Colonel  R.  T.  Durrett,  of  Louisville,  Kentucky.  The  valuable 
Durrett  Collection  of  Manuscripts  on  Western  History  is  now  owned  by  the 
University  of  Chicago. 


12  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

family  removed  at  an  early  date ;  and  here  he  remained  until 
1772,  when  he  went  to  South  Carolina  and  settled  on  Little 
River  in  Laurens  County.  At  the  battle  of  Musgrove  Mill, 
as  related  by  Shelby  himself,  Williams13  commanded  the 
American  center,  while  Shelby  and  Clarke  commanded  the 
right  and  left  wings,  respectively.  The  most  reliable  authori- 
ties state  that  Williams  held  the  chief  command  in  this  bat- 
tle.14 On  his  arrival  at  Hillsborough  whither  he  conducted 
the  prisoners  taken  at  Musgrove  Mill,  Williams  conveyed  the 
news  of  this  victory  to  Governor  Rutledge  of  South  Carolina, 
then  a  refugee  from  his  own  State.  In  recognition  of  the 
victory  at  Musgrove  Mill,  achieved  by  the  force  commanded 
by  Williams,  Governor  Rut-ledge  commissioned  him  as  a 
brigadier  general  in  the  South  Carolina  militia.15  On  Sep- 
tember 8,  Governor  Abner  Nash  of  North  Carolina  instructed 
General  Williams  to  go  to  Caswell  and  other  counties  and 
recruit  a.  corps  of  volunteer  horsemen,  not  to  exceed  one  hun- 
dred, for  active  service  against  the  enemy.16  This  force, 
about,  seventy  in  number,  Williams  enlisted  chiefly  while 
encamped  at  Higgins'  plantation  in  Rowan  County.  These 
recruits  were  brave  and  reliable  soldiers  ;  and  they  came  from 
a  county  noted  for  its  patriotism  and  its  hostility  to  England. 
"It  was  evident  and  it  had  frequently  been  mentioned  to  the 
King's  Officers,"  says  Banastre  Tarleton  in  his  Campaigns 
of  1780  and  1781  in  the  Southern  Provinces,  "that  the  coun- 
ties of  Mecklenburg  and  Rowan  were  more  hostile  to  Eng- 
land that  any  others  in  America."17 


BC/.     "Isaac  Shelby,"  I,  p.  140,  North  Carolina  Booklet,  January,  1917. 

14 A  Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Career  of  Col.  James  D.  Williams,  by  Rev.  J.  D. 
Bailey    (Cowpens,   S.   C,   1898). 

15The  official  report,  which  in  itself  constitutes  proof  that  Williams  was  in 
command  at  Musgrove  Mill,  was  drawn  up  and  signed  by  Williams  ;  and  this  is 
the  only  contemporary  report  of  the  battle  from  the  field.  On  September  5, 
1780,  Williams'  official  report  was  forwarded  by  General  Gates  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  Congress.  The  full  report  was  published  in  the  Pennsylvania  Packet 
on  September  23,  and  doubtless  earlier  in  North  Carolina  newspapers  ;  but  the 
substance  of  the  report,  doubtless  communicated  by  Governor  Rutledge,  ap- 
peared in  the  Virginia  Gazette  as  early  as  September  13.  Compare  also  North 
Carolina  University  Magazine,  March,  1S55. 

16For  a  copy  of  the  original  order,  see  Schenck,  North  Carolina,  1780-1781, 
143n. 

17The  slur  cast  upon  these  Rowan  recruits  by  the  venomous  Colonel  Hill  in 
his  Manuscript  Narrative  only  reflect  upon  their  author.  The  Legislature  of 
North  Carolina,  in  November,  1788,  acting  upon  a  report  submitted  by  Mr. 
Thomas  Person,   resolved :    "That  the  estate  of   James  Williams,   deceased,   late 


ISAAC     SHELBY  13 

The  number  chosen  from  the  over-mountain  men  to  go 
forward  from  the  ford  of  Green  River  on  the  night  of  Octo- 
ber 5,  was  about  seven  hundred ;  and  at  the  Cowpens,  as  accu- 
rately stated  by  Shelby,  they  were  reinforced  by  four  hundred 
men  under  Williams.18  Here  a  second  selection  of  nine  hun- 
dred and  ten  horsemen  was  made ;  and  Colonel  Campbell  was 
retained  in  the  chief  command — the  urgency  of  the  pursuit 
making  it  inadvisable  to  await  the  coming  of  the  general  offi- 
cer for  whom  Col.  Charles  McDowell  had  gone  to  Hillsbor- 
ough. This  force,  closely  followed  by  some  eighty-odd  foot- 
men ("foot-cavalry")  pushed  forward  from  the  Cowpens  on 
the  night  of  October  6,  in  pursuit  of  the  elusive  Ferguson. 

So  heavy  was  the  fall  of  rain  during  the  forenoon  and  so 
weary  and  jaded  were  the  men,  that  Campbell,  Sevier  and 
Cleveland  urged  a  halt ;  but  to  this  proposal  the  iron  Shelby, 
intent  upon  the  capture  and  destruction  of  the  men  who  had 
threatened  to  hang  him,  gruffly  replied  with  an  oath :  "I  will 
not  stop  until  night,  if  I  follow  Ferguson  into  Cornwallis' 
lines."  As  they  approached  King's  Mountain,  they  encoun- 
tered three  men  who  reported  that  they  were  just  from  the 
British  camp,  which  was  posted  upon  the  plateau,  and  that 
there  was  a  picket  guard  on  the  road  not  far  ahead.  "These 
men,"  says  Benjamin  Sharp  in  his  account,  "were  detained 
lest  they  should  find  means  to  inform  the  enemy  of  our  ap- 
proach, and  Col.  Shelby,  with  a  select  party,  undertook  to  sur- 
prise and  take  the  picket ;  this  he  accomplished  without  firing 
a  gun  or  giving  the  least  alarm ;  and  it  was  hailed  by  the  army 
as  a  good  omen."19 


180n  October  2,  Brigadier  General  Williams  reported  to  Major-General  Gates 
that  the  number  then  with  him  in  Burke  County  was  "about  four  hundred  and 
fifty  horsemen."  Cf.  N.  C.  State  Records,  xv.  94.  He  was  in  error  as  to  his 
location,  which  was  actually  in  Lincoln  County. 

^American  Pioneer,  February,   1843. 

of  the  State  of  S.  C.  be  released  and  acquitted  from  the  payment  of  $25,000 
advanced  to  the  said  deceased  in  his  lifetime  (1780)  by  this  state  for  the  pur- 
pose of  raising  men  for  the  defense  of  this  and  the  United  States,  it  having 
been  manifested  to  this  Assembly  that  he  was  in  action  at  the  Battle  of  King's 
Mountain  where  he  headed  three  or  four  hundred  men  and  in  which  action  he 
gloriously  fell,  a  sacrifice  to  liberty."  See  W.  A.  Graham:  Gen.  Joseph  Gra- 
ham and  His  Revolutionary  Papers,  282-3.  In  speaking  of  "our  march  to  the 
Yadkin,"  Cornwallis  calls  the  Rowan  section  "one  of  the  most  rebellious  tracts 
in  America." 


14  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

IV 

The  remarkable  battle  which  ensued  presents  an  extraordi- 
nary contrast  in  the  character  of  the  combatants  and  the 
nature  of  the  strategy  and  tactics  employed.  Each  party  ran 
true  to  form — the  heroic  and  brilliant  Ferguson  repeating 
Braddock's  suicidal  tactics  of  opposing  bayonet  charges  to 
the  deadly  fusillade  of  riflemen,  carefully  posted,  Indian 
fashion,  behind  trees  and  every  shelter  afforded  by  the  natural 
inequalities  of  the  ground.  In  the  army  of  the  Carolina  and 
Virginia  frontiersmen,  composed  of  independent  commands 
recruited  from  many  sources  and  each  solicitous  for  its  own 
credit,  each  command  was  directed  in  the  battle  by  its  own 
leader.  Campbell,  like  Cleveland,  Shelby,  McDowell,  Sevier, 
and  Hambright,  personally  led  his  own  division ;  but  the 
nature  of  the  fighting  and  the  peculiarity  of  the  terrain  made 
it  impossible  for  him,  though  the  chosen  commander  of  the 
expedition,  in  actuality  to  play  such  a  role.  The  tactics 
agreed  upon  in  advance  by  the  frontier  commanders  were 
simple  enough — to  surround  and  capture  Ferguson's  camp 
on  the  high  plateau.  The  more  experienced  Indian  fighters, 
Sevier  and  Shelby,  unquestionably  suggested  the  general 
tactics  in  accordance  with  their  experience,  which  in  any  case 
would  doubtless  have  been  employed  by  the  frontiersmen :  to 
give  the  British  "Indian-play,"  namely,  to  take  cover  any- 
where and  fire  from  natural  shelter.  Cleveland,  a  Hercules  in 
strength  and  courage,  who  had  fought  the  Indians  and  recog- 
nized the  wisdom  of  Indian  tactics,  ordered  his  men,  as  did 
some  of  the  other  leaders,  to  give  way  before  a  bayonet  charge 
— but  to  return  to  the  attack  after  the  charge  had  spent  its 
force. 

My  brave  fellows,  we  have  beaten  the  Tories  and  we  can  do  it  again. 
.  .  .  If  they  had  the  spirit  of  men,  they  would  join  with  their 
fellow-citizens  in  supporting  the  independence  of  their  country.  When 
you  are  engaged,  you  are  not  to  wait  for  the  word  of  command  from 
me.  I  will  show  you,  by  my  example,  how  to  fight ;  I  can  undertake 
no  more.     Every  man  must  consider  himself  an  officer  and  act  from 


ISAAC    SHELBY  15 

his  own  judgment.  Fire  as  quick  as  you  can,  and  stand  your  ground 
as  long  as  you  can.  When  you  can  do  no  better,  get  behind  trees 
or  retreat ;  but  I  beg  you  not  to  run  quite  off.  If  we  are  repulsed, 
let  us  make  a  point  of  returning  and  renewing  the  fight ;  perhaps  we 
may  have  better  luck  in  the  second  attempt  than  in  the  first. 

The  plateau  upon  which  Ferguson  was  encamped  was  the 
top  of  an  eminence  about  six  hundred  yards  long  and  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  from  one  base  across  to  the  other ;  and 
its  shape  was  that  of  an  Indian  paddle,  varying  from  one 
hundred  and  twenty  yards  at  the  blade  to  sixty  yards  at  the 
handle  in  width.  Outcropping  boulders  upon  the  outer  edge 
of  the  plateau  •  afforded  some  slight  shelter  for  Ferguson's 
force;  but,  unsuspicious  of  the  coming  attack,  Ferguson  had 
made  no  abatis  to  protect  his  camp  from  the  attack  to 
which  it  was  so  vulnerable  from  the  cover  of  the  timber  sur- 
rounding it  on  all  sides.  In  taking  their  positions,  the  cen- 
ter to  the  North-East  was  occupied  by  Cleveland  with  his 
Bulldogs,  Hambright  with  his  South  Fork  Boys,  from  the 
Catawba  (now  Lincoln  County,  North  Carolina),  and  Win- 
ston with  his  Surry  Riflemen;  to  the  South  were  the  divi- 
sions under  Joseph  McDowell  (brother  of  Charles)  who  was 
in  touch  with  Winston,  Sevier  and  Campbell ;  while  the  South 
Carolinians  under  Lacey,  who  was  in  touch  with  Cleveland, 
the  Rowan  levies  under  Williams,  and  the  Watauga  borderers 
under  Shelby  were  stationed  upon  the  North  side.  Fergu- 
son's force  consisted  of  Provincial  Rangers,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  strong,  and  of  well  drilled  loyalists,  between  eight  and 
nine  hundred,  seriously  weakened  by  the  absence  of  a  forag- 
ing party  of  between  one  and  two  hundred  who  had  gone  off 
on  the  morning  the  battle  occurred.  Shelby's  men,  before 
getting  into  position,  received  a  hot  fire,  the  opening  shots  of 
the  engagement — which  inspired  Campbell,  who  now  threw 
off  his  coat,  to  shout  encouraging  orders  to  his  men,  posted  on 
the  side  of  the  mountain  opposite  to  Shelby's  force.  When 
Campbell's  Virginians  uttered  a  series  of  piercing  shouts,  De 


16  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Peyster,  second  in  command,  remarked  to  his  chief:  "These 
things  are  ominous — these  are  the  damned  yelling  boys." 

The  battle,  which  lasted  some  minutes  short  of  an  hour, 
was  waged  with  terrific  ferocity.  The  loyalist  militia,  where- 
ever  possible,  fired  from  the  shelter  of  the  rocks ;  while  the 
Provincial  Corps,  with  fixed  bayonets,  steadily  charged  the 
frontiersmen,  who  fired  at  close  range  and  rapidly  withdrew 
to  the  very  base  of  the  mountain.  After  each  bayonet  charge, 
the  Provincials  coolly  withdrew  to  the  summit,  under  the  ac- 
cumulating fire  of  the  returning  mountaineers,  who  quickly 
gathered  in  their  rear.  Owing  to  their  elevation,  the  British, 
although  using  the  rapid-fire  breech-loading  rifle  invented  by 
Ferguson  himself,  found  their  vision  deflected,  continually 
firing  high ;  and  thus  suffered  nature's  handicap,  refraction.20 
The  militia,  using  sharpened  butcher  knives  which  Ferguson 
taught  them  to  utilize  as  bayonets,  charged  against  the  moun- 
taineers ;  but  their  fire,  in  answer  to  the  deadly  fusillade  of 
the  expert  squirrel  shooters,  was  belated,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  they  could  not  fire  so  long  as  the  crudely  improvised 
bayonets  remained  in  their  pieces.  The  Americans,  contin- 
ually firing  upward,  found  ready  marks  for  their  aim  in  the 
clearly  delineated  outlines  of  their  adversaries ;  and  felt  the 
exultation  which  animates  the  hunter  who  has  tracked  to  his 
lair  and  entrapped  wild  game  at  bay. 

The  leaders  of  the  various  divisions  of  the  mountaineers 
bore  themselves  with  impetuous  bravery,  recklessly  exposing 
themselves  between  the  lines  of  fire  and  with  native  eloquence, 
interspersed  with  mild  profanity,  rallying  their  individual 
commands,  from  end  to  end,  once  more  to  the  attack.  Camp- 
bell scaled  the  rugged  heights,  encouraging  his  men  to  the 
ascent.  Cleveland  resolutely  facing  the  foe,  rallied  his  bull- 
dogs with  the  inspiriting  words:  "Come,  boys,  let's  try  'em 
again.  We'll  have  better  luck  next  time."  The  most  deadly 
charge,  led  by  De  Peyster  himself,  fell  upon  Hambright's 
South  Fork  boys ;  and  Major  Chronicle,  waving  his  military 

20F.  Brevard  McDowell :  The  Battle  of  King's  Mountain. 


ISAAC    SHELBY 


17 


hat,  fell  dead,  the  command,  "Face  to  the  hill !"  dying  upon 
his  lips.  These  veteran  soldiers  met  the  shock  of  the  charge ; 
a  number  of  their  men  were  shot  down  or  transfixed,  and 
the  remainder,  reserving  their  fire  until  the  charging  column 
was  only  a  few  feet  away,  poured  in  a  deadly  volley  before 
retiring.  William  Lenoir,  independently  fighting  in  Wins- 
ton's column,  was  in  the  forefront  of  the  hottest  battle,  his 
reckless  bravery  making  him  a  veritable  target  for  the 
enemy.  He  received  several  wounds  and  his  hair  and  his 
clothes  were  riddled  with  bullets.  The  ranking  American 
officer,  Brigadier  General  James  Williams,  was  mortally 
wounded  on  the  "very  top  of  the  mountain,  in  the  thickest 
of  the  fight" ;  and  as  he  revived  for  a  moment,  an  eye-wit- 
ness relates,  his  first  words  were:  "For  God's  sake,  boys, 
don't  give  up  the  hill."  Hambright,  sorely  wounded,  his 
boot  overflowing  with  blood  and  his  hat  riddled  with  three 
bullet  holes,  declined  to  dismount,  but  pressed  gallantly  for- 
ward, exclaiming  in  his  "Pennsylvania  Dutch" :  "Huzza,  my 
prave  poys,  fight  on  a  few  minutes  more,  and  te  pattle  will 
be  over!"  On  the  British  side  Ferguson  was  supremely 
brave,  rapidly  dashing  from  one  side  to  the  other,  oblivious 
to  all  danger.  Wherever  the  shrill  note  of  his  silver  whistle 
sounded,  there  the  fighting  was  hottest  and  the  British  resist- 
ance deadliest.  His  officers  fought  with  the  characteristic 
steadiness  of  the  British  soldier,  and  again  and  again  charged 
headlong  against  the  wavering  circle  of  the  frontiersmen.21 

Ferguson's  authentic  boast — that  "he  was  on  King's  Moun- 
tain, that  he  was  king  of  the  mountain  and  that  God  Almighty 
could  not  drive  him  from  it" — was  doubtless  prompted,  less 
by  belief  in  the  impregnability  of  his  position,  than  by  a 
desire  to  inspire  confidence  in  his  men.  His  position  was 
admirably  chosen  for  defense  against  attack  by  troops  employ- 
ing regulation  tactics ;  but  never  dreaming  of  the  possibility 
of  sudden  investment,  Ferguson  had  erected  no  defenses  for 

21Forerunners  of  the  Republic :  "Isaac  Shelby,"  Neale's  Monthly,  March, 
1913. 


18  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

his  encampment.  The  disesteem  in  which  he  held  the  moun- 
taineers found  expression  in  the  passionate  declaration:  "I 
will  never  surrender  to  such  damned  banditti  as  the  mountain 
men."  His  frenzied  efforts  on  the  battle-field  seem  like  a 
mad  rush  against  fate ;  for  his  position  was  indefensible 
against  the  peculiar  tactics  of  the  frontiersmen.  While  the 
mountain  flamed  like  a  volcano  and  resounded  with  the  thun- 
der of  the  guns,  a  steady  stricture  was  in  progress ;  the  lines 
were  drawn  tighter  and  tighter  around  the  trapped  and  fran- 
tically struggling  army ;  and  at  last  the  fall  of  their  com- 
mander, riddled  with  bullets,  proved  the  mad  futility  of  fur- 
ther resistance.  The  game  was  caught  and  bagged  to  a  man. 
When  Winston  with  his  fox-hunters  of  Surry  dashed  reck- 
lessly through  the  woods,  says  a  chronicler  of  the  battle,  and 
''the  last  to  come  into'  position: 


then 


'Flow'd  iu,  and  settling,  circled  all  the  lists,' 

'From  all  the  circle  of  the  hills 
Death  sleeted  in  upon  the  doomed.'  "~ 


V 

In  reviewing  the  details  of  the  battle,  especial  interest 
attaches  here  to  everything  which  concerns  Isaac  Shelby.  In 
a  contemporary  letter  to  his  father,  he  gives  the  following 
terse  account  of  the  battle : 

That  Providence  who  always  rules  and  governs  all  things  for  the 
best,  so  ordered  it  that  we  were  around  them  before  we  were  discov- 
ered, and  formed  in  such  position,  so  as  to  fire  on  them  nearly 
about  (sic)  the  same  time,  though  they  heard  us  in  time  to  form  and 
stood  ready.  The  battle  continued  warm  for  an  hour;  the  enemy 
finding  themselves  so  embarassed  on  all  sides,  surrendered  them- 
selves prisoners  to  us  at  discretion. 

They  had  taken  post  at  that  place  with  the  confidence  that  no  force 
could  rout  them ;  the  mountain  was  high,  and  exceedingly  steep,  so 


22J.  W.  de  Peyster :  "The  Affair  at  King's  Mountain."  Reprinted  from  The 
Magazine  of  American  History,  Dec,  1880.  Cf.  also  the  same  writer's  sketch  : 
"The  Battle  or  Affair  of  King's  Mountain,"  1881.  These  give  the  extreme 
British  view. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  19 

that  their  situation  gave  them  greatly  the  advantage ;  indeed  it  was 
almost  equal  to  storming  a  battery-  In  most  cases  we  could  not  see 
them  until  we  were  within  twenty  yards  of  them.  They  repelled  us 
three  times  with  charged  bayonets ;  but  being  determined  to  conquer 
or  die,  we  came  up  a  fourth  time,  and  fairly  got  possession  of  the  top 
of  the  mountain.23 

The  final  general  order  to  the  mountain  men,  before  the 
engagement,  was  eloquent  of  the  general  determination: 
"Fresh  prime  your  guns,  and  every  man  go  into  battle  firmly 
resolved  to  fight  till  he  dies!" 

"The  enemy,"  says  Eobert  Campbell,  "annoyed  our  troops 
very  much  from  their  advantageous  position.  Col.  Shelby, 
being  previously  ordered  to  reconnoitre  their  position,  observ- 
ing their  situation,  and  what  a  destructive  fire  was  kept  up 
from  those  rocks,  ordered  Robert  Campbell,  one  of  the  offi- 
cers of  the  Virginia  Line,  to  move  to  the  right  with  a  small 
company  to  endeavor  to  dislodge  them,  and  lead  them  on 
nearly  to  the  ground  which  he  had  ordered  therm  under  fire 
of  the  enemy's  lines  and  within  forty  steps  of  the  same;  but 
discovering  that  our  men  were  repulsed  on  the  other  side  of 
the  mountain,  he  gave  orders  to  advance,  and  post  themselves 
opposite  to  the  rocks,  and  near  to  the  enemy,  and  then  re- 
turned to  assist  in  bringing  up  the  men  in  order,  who  had 
been  charged  with  the  bayonet.  These  orders  were  punc- 
tually obeyed,  and  they  kept  up  such  a  galling  fire  as  to  com- 
pel Ferguson  to  order  a  company  of  regulars  to  face  them, 
with  a  view  to  cover  his  men  that  were  posted  behind  the  rocks. 
At  this  time  a  considerable  fire  was  drawn  to  this  side  of 
the  mountain  by  the  repulse  of  those  on  the  other,  and  the 
Loyalists  not  being  permitted  to  leave  their  posts.  This 
scene  was  not  of  long  duration,  for  it  was  the  brave  Virginia 
volunteers,  and  those  under  Col.  Shelby,  on  their  attempting 
rapidly  to  ascend  the  mountain,  that  were  charged  with  the 
bayonet.  They  obstinately  stood  until  some  of  them  were 
thrust  through  the  body,  and  having  nothing  but  their  rifles 
by  which  to  defend  themselves,  they  were  forced  to  retreat. 


'■"Virginia  Gazette,  Nov.  4,  17S0. 


20  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

They  were  soon  rallied  by  their  gallant  commanders,  Camp- 
bell, Shelby,  and  other  brave  officers,  and  by  a  constant  and 
well-directed  fire  of  their  rifles,  drove  them  back  in  their  turn, 
strewing  the  face  of  the  mountain  with  their  assailants,  and 
kept  advancing  until  they  drove  them  from  some  of  their 
posts."24  Shelby's  men,  by  his  own  statement,  actually 
reached  the  summit  of  the  mountain  which  "was  covered  with 
flame  and  smoke  and  seemed  to  thunder."25 

The  regiments  of  Shelby  and  Campbell  began  the  attack; 
and  the  enemy  first  fired  upon  Shelby's  men  before  they  were 
in  position.  This  galling  fire  distressed  the  mountaineers, 
who  were  heard  to  mutter  that  "it  would  never  do  to  be  shot 
down  without  returning  the  fire."  To  which  the  intrepid 
Shelby  cooly  replied :  "Pass  on  to  your  places,  and  then  your 
fire  will  not  be  lost."26  Bancroft  says :  "Shelby,  a  man  of  the 
hardiest  make,  stiff  as  iron,  among  the  dauntless  singled  out 
for  dauntlessness,  went  right  onward  and  upward  like  a  man 
who  had  but  one  thing  to  do,  and  but  one  thought — to  do  it." 
Brave  as  he  and  his  men  were,  says  Draper,  they,  too1,  had  to 
retreat  before  the  charging  column,  but  firing  as  they  retired. 
When,  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  Shelby  wanted  to  bring  his 
men  to  order,  he  would  cry  out — "Now,  boys,  quickly  reload 
your  rifles,  and  give  them  another  hell  of  a  fire."27 

Throughout  the  entire  battle,  Shelby's  inspiriting  battle- 
3ry  was :  "Never  shoot  until  you  see  an  enemy,  and  never  see 
an  enemy  without  bringing  him  down."28 

Shelby  was  in  the  very  front  line  of  the  fight  from  the 
outset  of  the  engagement  to  its  very  close.  "When  the 
British  were  loudly  calling  for  quarters,  but  uncertain 
whether  they  would  be  granted,"  says  Benjamin  Sharp,  "I 
saw  the  intrepid  Shelby  rush  his  horse  within  fifteen  paces  of 
their  lines,  and  commanded  them  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and 
they  should  have  quarters.     Some  would  call  this  an  impru- 


'2iAnnals  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee,  Oct.,  1878. 
25Haywood's  Tennessee. 

26Foote's  Sketches  of  North  Carolina   (Graham's  Sketch),   p.   268. 
"MS.  statement  of  Gen.  Thomas  Love,  derived  from  Captain  David  Vance. 
£8Nile's  National  Register,  iv.  403. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  21 

dent  act,  but  it  shows  the  daring  bravery  of  the  man."29  As 
the  demoralized  Tories  continued  to  cry  "Quarters!  Quar- 
ters!," Shelby  fiercely  shouted:  "Damn  you!  If  you  want 
quarters,  throw  down  your  arms!"  In  a  letter  written  by 
John  Sevier  to  Isaac  Shelby  (Aug.  27,  1812),  we  read:  "You 
were  in  the  heat  of  the  action.  I  frequently  saw  you  ani- 
mating your  men  to  victory.  At  the  surrender,  you  were  the 
first  field  officer  I  recollect  to  have  seen.  ...  I  per- 
fectly recollect  on  seeing  you  at  the  close  of  the  action,  that 

I  swore  by they  had  burnt  off  your  hair,  for  it  was  much 

burnt  on  one  side." 

Owing  to  the  volley  fired  upon  the  victors  by  a  returning 
foraging  party  of  the  British,  a  fire  which  killed  the  daring- 
General  James  Williams,  the  incensed  Americans  under 
Campbell's  orders  returned  the  fire,  though  the  British  had 
already  surrendered.  This  created  a  very  alarming  situation, 
and  Shelby,  who  feared  that  the  enemy  might  yet,  perhaps, 
snatch  up  their  arms  in  self-defense  and  resume  the  battle,  ex- 
claimed :  "Good  God !  What  can  we  do  in  the  confusion  ?" 
"We  can  order  the  prisoners  from  their  arms,"  said  Captain 
Sawyers.  "Yes,"  responded  Shelby,  "that  can  be  done" ;  and 
the  prisoners  were  accordingly  inarched  off,  and  placed  under 
a  strong  guard. 

Ferguson  was  mortally  wounded  near  the  close  of  the 
action;  and  as  he  was  being  carried  off,  the  exultant  Shelby 
rode  up  and  with  incredible  callousness  said  to  him,  though 
doubtless  life  was  then  totally  extinct:  "Colonel,  the  fatal 
blow  is  struck — we've  Burgoyned  you."30  In  the  division  of* 
Ferguson's  effects,  the  foot-long  silver  whistle,  the  piercing 
note  of  which  had  been  heard  again  and  again  above  the 
clamor  and  din  of  the  battle,  fell  to  Shelby's  lot. 

According  to  expert  military  opinion,  the  plan  of  attack 
employed  by  the  Americans  was  probably  the  only  method 
of  assault  by  which  the  British  could  have  been  defeated. 
Impartial  examination  of  all  the  evidence  available,  which 


^American  Pioneer,  Feb.,   1843. 

30Related  by  Thos.  H.  Spelts  and  Thomas  H.  Shelby,  a  son  of  the  Colonel. 


22  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

includes  much  material  not  accessible  to  Draper,  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  chief  credit  for  inaugurating  the  entire 
campaign  belongs  to  Shelby.  The  nominal  leadership  was 
conferred  upon  Campbell ;  and  among  the  reasons,  not  already 
mentioned,  assigned  for  giving  him  the  chief  command,  were 
that  he  commanded  the  largest  division  of  the  forces  and  had 
come  from  the  greatest  distance.  In  the  battle  the  conditions 
of  combat  enabled  him  to  do  little  more  than  lead  the  men  of 
his  own  division ;  and  this  he  did  with  conspicuous  bravery 
and  gallantry.  It  is  scarcely  to  be  doubted  that  the  very- 
tactics  pursued  in  the  battle,  the  only  tactics  it  would  seem 
which  could  have  been  successful,  were  outlined,  not  by 
Campbell,  but  by  Shelby  himself.  The  following  significant 
lines,  from  a  letter  written  to  Shelby  by  Colonel  John  Sevier, 
from  Marble  Springs,  Tennessee,  August  27,  1812,  are  elo- 
quent on  the  point : — 

As  to  the  plan  of  attacking  the  enemy,  yourself  was  the  only  person 
that  named  the  mode  to  me,  and  the  same  was  acceded  to  unani- 
mously. No  doubt  you  recollect  we  argued  on  the  manner  of  attack 
immediately  after  Ferguson's  spies  were  taken,  while  we  were  a  little 
in  front  of  our  army,  and  as  we  were  returning  back  to  Campbell  and 
the  other  officers.31 

VI 

A  digression  from  the  continuity  of  the  narrative  is  neces- 
sary at  this  point,  in  order  to  bring  to  light  valuable  docu- 
ments, hitherto  unpublished,  which  throw  into  truer  perspec- 
tive the  role  played  by  Shelby  in  the  King's  Mountain  cam- 
paign. They  tend  to  correct  some  of  the  false  impressions 
fostered  by  Roosevelt  and,  to  a  lesser  degree,  by  Draper. 

On  February  11,  1781,  the  North  Carolina  State  Senate, 
in  session  at  Halifax,  placed  the  following  on  record : — 

Resolved,  That  the  Speaker  of  this  House  be  requested,  with  the 
Speaker  of  the  Commons,  to  transmit  to  Colonel  Campbell,  of  Vir- 


31"Hero  of  Three  Wars,"  by  C.  H.  Todd,  in  Journal  of  American  History, 
2nd  number,  2nd  volume,  1908.  These  lines  from  Sevier's  letter  have  been 
omitted  generally  by  historians,  even  by  Draper  in  King's  Mountain  and  Its 
Heroes   (pp.  575-6).     Such  an  omission  is  almost  inexplicable. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  23 

ginia,  Colonel  Cleveland,  Colonel  Shelby,  and  the  brave  Officers  and 
Soldiers  under  their  command  the  following  address,  to  wit : 

Gentlemen  : 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  impressed 
with  a  deep  sense  of  your  eminent  services  during  the  last  Summer's 
Campaign  have  unanimously  resolved  that  the  Speakers  of  the  two 
Houses  should  transmit  to  you  their  warmest  acknowledgments  for 
your  spirited  and  vigorous  Exertions  against  the  formidable  body  of 
British  Forces  under  Major  Ferguson  at  King's  Mountain.  The  alac- 
rity with  which  you  stepped  forth  uncalled  for  by  Authority,  your 
Vigilance  in  Marching  to,  and  your  conduct  in,  the  attack  of  the 
Enemy,  deserve  the  highest  Encomiums,  and  strongly  mark  Patriot- 
ism and  Heroism  united  in  the  same  persons.  To  these  Virtues, 
which  you,  Gentlemen,  so  happily  possess,  your  Country  is  indebted 
for  the  important  Victory  which  frustrated  the  schemes  of  the  enemy, 
awed  many  of  the  disaffected  into  submission,  and  rescued  the  west- 
ern parts  of  this  State  from  devastation  and  ruin  and  the  horrors 
attendant  on  a  War  directed  by  Tyranny  and  pursued  with  vindic- 
tive Resentment. 

We  do  therefore  in  obedience  to  the  order  of  the  two  Houses  and 
with  the  highest  satisfaction  to  ourselves  transmit  to  you  the  thanks 
of  your  country  by  its  representatives  in  General  Assembly. 

Ordered  that  the  foregoing  Address  with  the  following  Message  be 
sent  the  Commons  for  concurrence. 

Mr.  Speaker  and  Gentlemen  : 

We  send  for  your  approbation  an  address  proposed  by  this  House 
to  be  presented  the  officers  who  distinguished  themselves  in  the  cap- 
ture of  the  British,  commanded  by  Major  Ferguson,  at  King's  Moun- 
tain. 

Resolved,  that  an  elegant  mounted  sword  be  presented  to  each  of 
the  following  officers,  that  is  to  say,  Colo.  Cleveland,  of  Wilkes 
County,  Colonel  Campbell  of  Virginia,  Colonel  Shelby  of  Sullivan 
County,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sevier  of  Washington  County,  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Hambright  of  Lincoln  County,  Major  Winston  of  Surry 
County  and  Major  Shelby  of  Sullivan  County  for  their  voluntary  and 
distinguished  services  in  the  defeat  of  Major  Ferguson  at  the  battle 
of  King's  Mountain. 

An  extraordinary  series  of  blunders,  which  to  this  day  have 
remained  unexplained,  now  took  place  in  connection  with 
the  "resolution"  above-mentioned.  The  original  journal  of 
the  assembly,  as  well  as  the  printed  copy,  contains  a  message 
from  the  House  to  the  Senate,  approving  of  the  "address" 


24  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

above-mentioned;  but  nowhere  in  the  original  journal  is  rec- 
ord or  even  mention  made  of  any  action  taken  by  the  House 
upon  the  Senate  "resolution"  concerning  the  swords.  That 
no  steps  were  taken  to  procure  and  present  the  swords  men- 
tioned in  the  resolution  was  doubtless  clue  to  the  fact  that  the 
journal  contained  no  record  of  the  joint  concurrence  of 
House  and  Senate  in  this  "resolution" ;  and  consequently  no 
committee  was  appointed  to  carry  out  the  terms  of  the  "reso- 
lution." Shelby  and  Sevier  both  believed  that  the  swords  had 
been  voted  them  by  the  Assembly.32 

The  question  which  remains  unanswered  until  the  present 
day  is :  "Did  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina  in  February, 
1781,  vote  the  swords  to  Shelby,  Sevier,  Winston,  and  the 
others  mentioned  in  the  'resolution'  ?"  The  original  manu- 
script of  the  "resolution"  itself,  still  preserved,  and  now  in 
the  Archives  of  the  North  Carolina  Historical  Commission, 
conclusively  shows  that  the  swords  were  thus  voted.  Upon  it 
are  inscribed  the  following: — 

In  the  H  Commons  11  Feby  1781 
Concurred  with 
By  order 

Jno  Hunt  C  H  C 

and  the  endorsement : 

llth  Feby  laid  over  til  Tomorrow  morning. 

The  "resolution"  was  "laid  over"  until  February  12, 
awaiting  action  upon  the  "address" ;  and  the  "address,"  bear- 
ing the  approval  of  the  House,  was  received  by  the  Sen- 
ate on  February  13.  The  explanation  of  the  blunder  is 
probably  due  to  the  careless  reading  of  the  secretary  who 
compiled  the  journal  in  failing  to  note,  and  so,  to  record,  that 
the  "address"  and  the  "resolution"  were  two  different  things 
and  that  both  had  been  concurred  with  by  the  House. 

S2N.  C.  State  Records,  xvii,  696-7,  704,  support  the  statements  made  above. 
In  his  Annals  of  Tennessee,  248,  Ramsey  is  in  error  in  stating  that  the  General 
Assembly  of  North  Carolina  in  1781  "passed  a  resolution  that  a  sword  and 
pistols  should  be  presented  to  both  Shelby  and  Sevier."  As  printed  in  the 
N.  C.  State  Records,  xvii,   697,   "Lewis"  is  a  misprint  for  "Sevier." 


ISAAC    SHELBY  ZO 

Shortly  after  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  the  General 
Assembly  of  Virginia  "ordered  that  a  good  horse,  with  ele- 
gant furniture,  and  a  sword"  be  presented  to  William  Camp- 
bell.33 Singularly  enough,  Virginia  like  North  Carolina 
was  inexplicably  dilatory  in  carrying  out  the  will  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  At  the  instance  of  friends  of  the  late  Wil- 
liam Campbell,  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  in  1809,  it 
appears,  caused  a  handsome  and  costly  sword,  purchased  in 
France,  to  be  presented  to  William  Campbell  Preston,  Wil- 
liam Campbell's  grandson. 

When  this  information  reached  Shelby  in  1809,  it  pro- 
duced, as  he  acknowledges,  "some  feelings  of  emulation  and 
solicitude,  and  a  sense  that  equal  justice  had  not  been  done 
to  all  who  participated  in  that  memorable  achievement." 
Accordingly,  he  engaged  in  private  correspondence  with  John 
Sevier  on  the  subject;  and  years  afterwards  frankly  acknowl- 
edged that  the  object  of  the  letters  was  "to  concert  with  him 
(Sevier)  the  means  of  reminding  North  Carolina  of  her 
ancient  promise,  and  of  obtaining  those  swords  which  thirty 
years  before  had  been  voted  to  us,  as  the  honorable  memorials 
of  our  good  conduct,  and  our  country's  approbation."  Shelby 
confessed  to  his  very  natural  sense  of  the  injustice  in  the 
recognition  of  Campbell,  while  Sevier  and  himself  remained 
unrecognized.34 

VII 

During  the  political  campaign  of  1812,  when  Shelby  was 
making  the  race  for  the  governorship  of  Kentucky,  false- 
hoods were  freely  circulated  against  him,  minimizing  the  part 
he  played  in  the  King's  Mountain  campaign.  To  meet  these 
charges,  an  article  signed  "Narrator"  appeared  in  the  Keiv- 
tucky  Reporter,  July  25,  1812,  giving  undue  credit  to  Shelby 
as  leader  of  the  King's  Mountain  campaign  and  casting  un- 
worthy aspersions  upon  the  bravery  of  Colonel  Campbell. 
The  article  was  replied  to  in  the  same  paper,  of  June  20, 

^Summers  :  Southwest  Virginia,  337-9. 

34See  Governor  Shelby's  pamphlet :   "Battle  of  King's  Mountain." 


26  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

1813,  by  William  C.  Preston,  who  made  a  spirited  vindication 
of  the  charge  of  cowardice  preferred  against  his  grandfather. 
Nine  years  later,  the  controversy  broke  forth  anew,  when 
Colonel  George  Washington  Sevier  caused  to  be  published  in 
the  Nashville  Gazette  four  private  letters  written  to  his 
father,  John  Sevier,  by  Isaac  Shelby.  In  one  of  these  let- 
ters, (January  1,  1810),  Shelby  makes  the  damaging  charge: 

It  is  a  fact  well  known,  and  for  which  he  (Campbell)  apologized 
to  me  the  day  after  the  action,  that  he  was  not  within  less  than  one 
quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  enemy  at  the  time  they  surrendered  to  you 
and  myself. 

This  brought  forth  from  William  C.  Preston  another  state- 
ment in  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  entitled  "Colonel  Camp- 
bell and  Governor  Shelby,"  claiming  the  chief  honors  of  the 
victory  at  King's  Mountain  for  his  grandfather,  and  vehe- 
mently repelling  the  insinuation  of  cowardice  contained  in 
Shelby's  private  letter  to  Sevier,  lately  given  to  the  public  by 
G.  W.  Sevier. 

An  elaborate  survey  and  investigation  of  the  whole  ques- 
tion was  then  made  by  Shelby  and  published  as  a  pamphlet 
in  1823. 35  Extended  replies  to  this  pamphlet  were  made: 
by  William  C.  Preston  in  the  Telescope  of  Columbia,  S.  C, 
May  10,  1823,  and  by  General  John  Campbell  in  the 
Enquirer  of  Richmond,  Va.,  June  24,  1823.  This  pro- 
longed and  regrettable  controversy  had  certain  important  con- 
sequences, and  resulted  in  establishing  certain  cardinal  facts 
touching  the  conduct  of  Campbell,  Shelby  and  Sevier.  Camp- 
bell's fame  remained  entirely  undimmed  by  the  charges  of 
Shelby,  who,  clearly,  had  misinterpreted  a  remark  made  by 
Campbell  on  the  battle-field ;  and  furthermore  Shelby  was 
utterly  misled,  through  the  fact  that  Campbell's  body  servant 
rode  his  horse  during  the  battle,  into  the  belief  that  Campbell 
remained  in  the  rear  during  the  action.  The  credit  for  initi- 
ating the  campaign,  it  was  clearly  established,  belonged  to 
Shelby,  who  acted  in  concert  with  Sevier.    There  is  no  reason 


36Appendix  to  Draper's  King's  Mountain  and  Its  Heroes,  560-582. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  27 

to  doubt  that  Shelby  was  entirely  honest  in  believing  the 
charges,  however  unworthy  and  untrue,  which  he  preferred 
against  Campbell. 

In  his  article  in  the  Telescope,  Wm.  C.  Preston  published 
an  affidavit  of  Colonel  Matthew  Willoughby,  in  which  he  dis- 
credited the  testimony  of  Moses  Shelby,  brother  of  Isaac,  who 
had  testified  in  the  Shelby  pamphlet  (1823)  that  during  the 
latter  half  of  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  Campbell  re- 
mained stationary  near  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  in  plain 
sight  of  him.  Colonel  Willoughby  deputed  that  "the  statement 
of  Moses  Shelby  would  not,  perhaps,  be  credited,  from  the 
character  he  bore  about  the  time  and  after  the  battle,  as  he, 
with  others,  was  engaged  in  plundering  in  the  Carolinas,  both 
Whigs  and  Tories,  and  running  the  property  so  plundered  to 
this  side  of  the  mountains." 

The  following  letter  from  Isaac  Shelby  to  John  J.  Critten- 
den, famous  Kentuckian,  who  had  been  Shelby's  Aide-de- 
camp on  the  Canadian  campaign  in  the  War  of  1812,  is  im- 
portant as  giving  valuable  evidence,  not  only  concerning  the 
character  of  Moses  Shelby,  but  also  in  regard  to  the  battle  of 
King's  Mountain.  It  was  evidently  not  seen  by  Draper,  or 
by  Roosevelt,  who  accepts,  apparently  without  question,  the 

charges  against  Moses  Shelby. 

Danville,  June  16th,  1823. 

My  Dear  Sie, — You  have  no  doubt  before  this  seeu  the  replies  of 
both  General  Preston  and  his  son  to  rny  publication.  Colonel  Preston 
proposes  to  establish  for  his  own  father  the  merit  of  planning  the 
expedition  which  led  to  Ferguson's  defeat. 

I  have  examined  the  subject  in  my  own  mind  in  every  point  of 
view,  and  cannot  in  the  remotest  manner  discover  wherein  General 
Preston  could  have  had  any  agency  in  this  exploit.  I  lived  nearly 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from  him,  in  a  different  State,  and  had 
no  kind  of  communication  with  him  on  the  subject,  and  from  every 
recollection,  I  am  convinced  that  the  statement  I  gave  you  is  indis- 
putably true.  I  recollect,  however,  that  Major  Cloyd,  with  three  hun- 
dred men  from  the  county  of  Montgomery,  commanded  by  Colonel 
Preston,  fought  an  action  with  the  Tories  at  the  shallow  ford  of  the 
Yadkin  River,  nearly  one  hundred  miles  north  of  King's  Mountain, 
about  two  weeks  after  the  defeat  of  Ferguson.  It  has  always  been 
a  mystery  to  me  as  to  Cloyd's  destination,  or  that  of  the  enemy  whom 


28  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

he  encountered.  I  have  only  understood  that  they  met  accidentally 
in  the  road,  and  that  the  enemy  was  composed  of  the  enemies  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  of  the  Bryants,  of  Kentucky,  some  of  whom 
were  killed  in  the  fight. 

If  Ferguson  was  Cloyd's  object,  he  was  too  weak  to  effect  anything, 
and  besides,  Lord  Cornwallis,  with  the  British  army,  lay  directly  in 
the  route  between  them.  My  convictions  are  so  clear  on  this  point 
I  have  no  fear  that  General  Preston  can  render  my  statement  doubt- 
ful. He  proposes,  too,  to  invalidate  the  testimony  of  Moses  Shelby. 
I  will,  for  your  own  satisfaction,  give  you  a  short  sketch  of  his  his- 
tory. Moses  was  in  his  nineteenth  year  when  he  left  his  father's 
house  to  join  the  expedition  against  Ferguson  and  had  never  before, 
to  my  knowledge,  been  more  than  forty  miles  from  home.  It  is  well 
known  that  our  march  was  too  rapid  for  a  youth  of  that  age  to  tres- 
pass in  any  manner,  the  army  having  marched  two  or  three  hundred 
miles,  and  fought  the  battle  in  twelve  days,  three  of  which  we  were 
detained  on  the  road  from  different  causes.  Moses  was  severely 
wounded  at  the  Mountain,  and  the  bone  of  one  thigh  being  fractured, 
he  could  be  carried  but  a  short  distance  from  the  battle-ground,  where 
he  lay  on  his  back  nearly  three  months,  and  was  only  able  to  ride 
out  a  few  days  before  General  Morgan  came  up  into  the  district  of 
Ninety-Six.  He  joined  Morgan  but  a  day  or  two  before  the  battle 
of  the  Cowpens,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1781.  Here  he  was  wounded 
more  severely  than  at  the  Mountain,  and  lay,  until  March  or  April, 
under  the  hands  of  a  surgeon.  When  Colonel  Clarke,  of  Georgia, 
came  on  with  his  followers  to  commence  the  siege  of  Augusta,  his 
wounds  were  still  sore  and  open,  but  at  the  warm  solicitations  of 
Clarke,  Moses  joined  the  expedition,  and  was  appointed  Captain  of 
horse.  It  is  well  known  that  the  siege  lasted  until  May  or  June  fol- 
lowing, in  which  Moses  was  actively  engaged,  and  Clarke  asserted 
to  many  that  he  made  several  charges  on  the  enemy,  who  sallied  dur- 
ing the  siege,  which  would  have  done  honor  to  Count  Pulaski. 
Moses  returned  home  shortly  after  the  siege,  and  never  crossed  the 
mountains  again  during  the  war.  The  next  year,  1782,  he,  with  other 
adventurers,  went  to  the  new  settlements,  then  forming  where  Nash- 
ville now  stands,  where  he  continued  off  and  on  until  he  married, 
two  or  three  years  afterwards.  As  the  settlements  progressed  down 
the  Cumberland,  he  was  always  among  the  foremost  of  the  pioneers. 
He  finally  settled  in  what  is  now  called  Livingston  County,  Kentucky, 
where  at  the  unanimous  solicitation  of  the  inhabitants,  he  was 
appointed  colonel  of  the  new  county,  about  the  year  1793.  He  had  the 
command  for  a  number  of  years.  And  after  the  acquisition  of  Louisi- 
ana, he  removed  to  that  territory,  and  now  resides  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  two  miles  below  New  Madrid,  covered  with  the 
scars  of  thirteen  deep  wounds,  received  in  defence  of  his  country,  for 
which  he  is  too  proud  to  receive  a  pension,  always  disdaining  to 
apply  for  one.     In  his  youth  he  was  of  a  warm  and  ardent  disposition, 


ISAAC    SHELBY  29 

always  ready  to  risk  his  life  for  a  friend,  and  profuse  of  his  property 
(of  which  he  had  a  considerable  inheritance),  even  to  a  fault.  It 
would  exceed  the  bounds  of  a  letter  to  give  you  a  statement  of  the 
many  hair-breadth  escapes  and  imminent  dangers  through  which 
he  passed.  Soon  after  his  marriage,  he  became  impressed  with 
religious  sentiments,  joined  the  Methodist  Church,  liberated  his  slaves, 
and,  so  far  as  I  know  and  believe,  has  always  supported  a  good 
character  in  that  county. 

It  is  possible,  while  at  the  South,  in  17S0-81,  from  his  ardent  dis- 
position and  the  prevailing  excitement  of  the  times,  that  he  may  in 
some  cases  have  acted  imprudently.  The  war  between  the  Whigs  and 
Tories  was  carried  on  with  the  utmost  rancor  and  malice,  each 
endeavoring  to  do  the  greatest  injury  to  the  other. 

Colonel  Willoughby,  whose  affidavit  has  been  published,  swears  to 
no  point.  He  lived  three  hundred  miles  from  the  scene  of  action,  and 
his  information  may  have  been  very  erroneous. 

If,  however,  General  Preston  proves  apparently  anything  more,  he 
shall  be  answered. 

I  have  made  this  hasty  sketch  for  your  own  satisfaction. 

I  remain,  dear  Sir,  very  respectfully,  your  friend, 

Isaac  Shelby. 

John  J.  Crittenden.38 

VIII 

After  their  exchanges  of  letters  in  1810,  Shelby  and  Sevier, 
throwing  conventional  modesty  to  the  winds,  prepared  a  joint 
memorial  to  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina.  This 
was  presented  by  the  Senator  from  Snrry,  Joseph  Winston,  on 
December  15,  1812,  of  which  the  following  record  is  found: 

Mr.  Winston  presented  the  memorial  of  Issac  (sic)  Shelby  and 
John  Sevier,  setting  forth  that  in  consideration  of  public  services 
rendered  during  our  revolutionary  war,  and  particularly  for  their 
conduct  at  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
of  North  Carolina,  in  the  year  1781,  did  vote  each  of  the  memorialists 
an  elegant  sword  and  pair  of  pistols,  which  they  have  not  heretofore 
applied  for  or  received ;  and  they  pray  that  this  testimonial  of  the 
approbation  of  the  state  for  their  conduct  be  now  complied  with. 
This  memorial  being  read,  was  referred  to  the  committee  of  Proposi- 
tions and  Grievances,  and  sent  to  the  House  of  Commons.37 

The  matter  was  later  referred  to  a  special  committee  con- 
sisting of  Messrs.  Porter  and  W.  W.  Jones  on  the  part  of  the 

36Mrs.  C.  Coleman  :  The  Life  of  John  J.  Crittenden,  v,  56-8  (1871). 
""Senate  Journal,  1812. 


30  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

House,  and  Messrs.  Atkinson  and  Gaston  on  the  part  of  the 
Senate.  On  December  22,  1812,  Mr.  Gaston  submitted  an 
extended  report  after  investigation,  in  which  it  is  stated: 

Your  committee  And,  upon  an  examination  of  the  journal  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  that  the  proposed  address  obtained  the  approba- 
tion and  concurrence  of  the  house ;  but  they  do  not  find  any  determi- 
nation relative  to  the  second  resolution  of  the  Senate,  nor  any  minute 
that  such  resolution  had  been  received  by  them.  Your  committee, 
however,  have  been  informed,  and  so  believe,  that  the  House  of  Com- 
mons did  concur  with  the  Senate  in  this  latter  resolution,  as  well  as 
in  that  for  presenting  to  their  patriots  and  heroes  the  thanks  of  the 
Legislature.38 

In  order  to  pay  what  Gaston  describes  as  "the  long  pro- 
crastinated debt  of  gratitude  and  honor,"  the  House  and  Sen- 
ate unanimously  passed  the  following : — 

Resolved,  That  his  Excellency  the  Governor  be  requested  to  procure 
three  elegant  swords,  such  as  in  his  estimation  is  (sic)  not  unworthy 
of  North  Carolina  to  bestow,  on  those  who  have  distinguished  claims 
on  the  gratitude  of  her  citizens ;  and  that  he  cause  them  severally  to 
be  presented,  in  the  name  of  this  State,  to  General  Isaac  Shelby,  of 
Kentucky,  General  John  Sevier  of  Tennessee,  and  Colonel  Joseph 
Winston  of  this  State,  the  three  surviving  chiefs  of  the  gallant  band 
who  fought  and  conquered  at  King's  Mountain,  on  the  memorable  7th 
of  October,  1780.39 

In  carrying  out  the  resolution,  Governor  William  Haw- 
kins enlisted  the  services  of  the  Hon.  James  Turner,  at  that 
time  representing  North  Carolina  in  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate. At  the  instance  of  Mr.  Turner,  the  swords  were  pur- 
chased in  New  York  by  Mr.  Robert  Walker  of  Petersburg, 
assisted  by  Colonel  Swift.  The  swords  thus  procured,  accord- 
ing to  instruction,  were  "in  point  of  elegance  inferior  to  none 
that  can  be  procured."  The  sword  presented  to  Shelby,  with 
which  the  others  were  identical  save  for  name,  bore  upon 


38Senate  Journal.  It  seems  extraordinary  that  a  man  of  Gaston's  legislative 
experience  should  have  omitted  to  examine  the  original  manuscript  of  the  Sen- 
ate resolution  of  February  11,  1781,  which  would  have  resolved  all  his  doubts. 

39It  is  a  source  of  lasting  regret  that  another  regrettable  oversight  was  made 
at  this  time.  A  fourth  leader  in  the  King's  Mountain  campaign  whose  name 
was  included  in  the  original  resolution,  was  Lieutenant  Colonel  Hambright,  of 
Lincoln  County,  who  survived  until  March,  1S17.  Grave  injustice  was  done, 
in  that  no  sword  was  presented  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Hambright  in  1813. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  31 

one  side  of  the  hilt  the  inscription:  "King's  Mountain — Oc- 
tober 7,  1780/'  upon  the  other:  "State  of  North  Carolina  to 
Colonel  Isaac  Shelby."  Writing  to  Governor  Hawkins  from 
Warren  County  on  September  19,  1813,  the  Hon.  James  Tur- 
ner says  concerning  these  swords:  "The  one  for  Col.  Shelby 
was  forwarded  through  the  politeness  if  Mr.  Clay,  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  one  for  Col. 
Savier  (sic)  was  delivered  to  him  by  myself  (he  being  in 
Washington).  The  one  for  Col.  Winston  was  forwarded  to 
him  by  Mr.  Yancey,  one  of  the  members  of  Congress  from 
this  State.  The  letters  of  the  Gentlemen  was  (sic)  delivered 
and  forwarded  by  the  same  Gentlemen  who  took  charge  of 
the  swords."40 

The  following  letter,  just  referred  to,  was  sent  to  Isaac 
Shelby,  then  Governor  of  Kentucky,  by  Governor  William 
Hawkins  of  North  Carolina.41 

Executive  Office,  N.  C. 

Raleigh  17th,  July  1813. 

Sib,  In  compliance  with  a  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
this  State  passed  at  their  last  Session  I  have  the  honor  of  tendering 
you  the  sword  which  this  letter  accompanies  as  a  testimony  of  the 
distinguished  claim  you  have  on  the  gratitude  of  the  State  for  your 
gallantry  in  achieving  with  your  brothers  in  arms  the  glorious  victory 
over  the  British  forces  commanded  by  Colo.  Ferguson  at  the  battle  of 
King's  Mountain  on  the  memorable  7th  of  October  1780.  This  tribute 
of  respect  though  bestowed  at  a  protracted  period,  will  not  be  con- 
sidered the  less  honorable  on  that  account  when  you  are  informed 
that  it  is  in  unison  with  a  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly  passed 
in  the  year  1781,  which  from  some  cause  not  well  ascertained,  it  is  to 
be  regretted  was  not  complied  with. 

Permit  me  Sir,  to  make  you  an  expression  of  the  high  gratification 
felt  by  me  at  being  the  favored  instrument  to  present  to  you  in  the 
name  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  this  testimonial  of  gratitude — 
this  meed  of  valour,  and  to  remark,  that  contending  as  we  are  at  the 
present  time  with  the  same  foe  for  our  just  rights  the  pleasing  hope 
may  be  entertained  that  the  valorous  deeds  of  the  heroes  of  our 


^Governor  Hawkins'  Letter  Book,  1812-3,  429.  For  assistance  in  making 
these  researches,  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor,  Secretary  of  the  N.  C. 
Historical  Commission. 

"An  exact  transcript  of  the  same  letter  was  likewise  transmitted  to  General 
John  Sevier,  of  Tennessee,  and  Colonel  Joseph  Winston,  of  North  Carolina. 
Cf.  Ramsey's  Annals  of  Tennessee,  pp.  248-254,  and  "The  Life  and  Times  of 
Major  Joseph  Winston,"  by  G.  T.  Winston  (Guilford  Battleground  Company, 
1895). 


32  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Revolution  will  animate  the  Soldier  of  the  existing  War  and  nerve 
his  arm  in  laudable  emulation  to  like  achievements. 

I  beg  you  to  accept  an  assurance  of  the  great  consideration  and 
respect  with  which, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 
Sir 

Your  obedient  Servent 

William  Hawkins.42 

This  recognition  on  the  part  of  North  Carolina,  fitly 
enough,  came  with  dramatic  emphasis  at  a  moment  of  crisis 
in  the  career  of  Governor  Shelby  and  of  the  State  of  Ken- 
tucky. In  his  memorable  oration,  delivered  at  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  on  August  15,  1826,  the  Hon.  William  Taylor 
Barry  thus  described  the  event : 

Colonel  Shelby  was  at  his  residence  in  Lincoln  County,  enjoying  in 
affluence,  the  sweets  of  domestic  life,  when  he  was  again  called  upon 
to  assume  the  helm  of  State.  At  the  advanced  age  of  63,  had  he 
wanted  an  apology,  this  was  an  ample  one ;  but  his  mind  was  char- 
acterized by  constancy  and  invincible  firmness.  He  saw  his  beloAred 
country,  for  whose  independence  he  had  fought  in  his  youth,  again 
in  imminent  danger,  assailed  by  the  same  inveterate  foe.  The  fire 
of  patriotism  rekindled  in  his  bosom,  he  did  not  hesitate,  but  aban- 
doning the  allurements  of  ease,  and  listening  only  to  the  voice  of 
honor,  we  see  him  again  with  youthful  ardour,  entering  upon  the 
executive  duties,  boldly  hazarding  his  reputation  in  the  contingencies 
of  a  war,  the  glorious  results  of  which  were  yet  in  the  womb  of  time. 
The  volunteers  from  Kentucky  who  had  gone  forth  to  battle,  notwith- 
standing the  bravery  and  good  conduct  of  their  officers,  had  met  with 
sad  reverses.  The  dreadful  defeats  at  the  River  Raisin,  and  the 
Rapids  of  the  Miami,  had  deprived  our  State  of  many  gallant  and 
patriotic  citizens,  and  filled  the  country  with  mourning ;  the  cruelties 
practised  by  the  savage  allies  of  England,  and  countenanced  by  the 
British  officers,  was  the  cause  of  deep  and  powerful  excitement ;  the 
public  indignation  was  aroused  and  our  militia,  anxious  to  revenge 
their  slaughtered  countrymen,  were  impatient  to  be  led  to  battle. 
Shelby  thought  the  time  had  arrived  to  put  an  end  to  the  contest  in 
that  quarter,  and  resolved  to  take  the  field  in  person.  As  he  was 
preparing  for  the  campaign,  a  happy  incident  occurred.  The  deliv- 
ery of  the  sword  voted  him  by  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina  in 
1781,  had,  from  some  cause,  been  delayed,  and  was  handed  to  him 


42From  the  Letter  Book  of  Governor  William  Hawkins,  1812-1813,  pp.  291-2. 
Collections  of  the  North  Carolina  Historical  Commission.  For  a  copy  of  this 
letter  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor,  Secretary  of  the  N.  C  Historical 
Commission.  The  letter  to  General  Sevier,  the  duplicate  of  the  present  letter, 
is  printed  in  Ramsey's  Annals  of  Tennessee,  249. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  33 

just  in  time  to  be  used  in  acquiring  fresh  laurels.     Proud  emblem  of 
victory — glorious  remembrancer  of  the  gallantry  and  heroism  of  two 

wars.43 

In  the  march  to  Lake  Erie  and  Canada,  the  famous  hero  of 
the  Kevolution  not  without  deep  emotions  of  pride  and  reli- 
gious fervor,  "wore  upon  his  thigh  a  sword  just  presented  to 
him  by  Henry  Clay,  in  the  name  of  the  State  of  North  Caro- 
lina, in  testimony  of  appreciation  of  his  services  in  the  old 
war  for  independence."44 

With  the  sword  was  tendered  the  following  letter  to  Shelby 

from  Henry  Clay: 

Lexington,  22d  August,  1813. 
My  dear  Sik, — I  have  seen  by  the  public  prints  that  you  intend  lead- 
ing a  detachment  from  this  state.  As  you  will  want  a  sword,  I  have 
the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  I  am  charged  by  Governor  Turner 
and  Mr.  Macon  with  delivering  to  you  that  which  the  State  of  North 
Carolina  voted  you  in  testimony  of  the  sense  it  entertained  of  your 
conduct  at  King's  Mountain.  I  would  take  it  with  me  to  Frankfort, 
in  order  that  I  might  personally  execute  the  commission  and  at  the 
same  time  have  the  gratification  of  seeing  you,  if  I  were  not  excess- 
ively oppressed  with  fatigue.  I  shall  not  fail,  however,  to  avail 
myself  of  the  first  safe  conveyance,  and  if  any  should  offer  to  you, 
I  will  thank  you  to  inform  me.  May  it  acquire  additional  lustre  in 
the  patriotic  and  hazardous  enterprise  in  which  you  are  embarking ! 

Your  friend, 

H.  Clay. 

The  bearer  of  the  letter  and  the  sword  was  a  common  friend, 
William  T.  Barry,  quoted  above,  who  delivered  them  to  Gov- 
ernor Shelby  at  Frankfort. 

The  venerable  soldier,  with  his  characteristic  energy  once 
again  taking  the  field  in  defense  of  the  liberties  of  his  country, 
in  acknowledgment  of  the  gift  of  North  Carolina  wrote  the 
following  interesting  letter,  hitherto  unpublished,  to  the  Gov- 
ernor of  North  Carolina. 


43"0n  the  Death  of  Adams,  Jefferson  and  Sheluy,"  in  Year  Book,  1913,  of 
Kentucky  Society  Sons  of  the  Revolution.  Barry  had  been  Secretary  and  Aide- 
de-Canip  to  General  Shelby  on  the  expedition  to  Canada  in  1813  ;  and  after- 
wards became  very  distinguished  in  the  public  life  of  Kentucky.  At  one  time 
he  was  Postmaster  General  in  President  Jackson's  cabinet. 

44B.  J.  Lossing :  Field  Book  of  the  War  of  1812,  544-5. 

3 


34  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Government  House  Frankfort  Kentucky. 
August  26th,  1813. 
Sir,  On  the  23d  inst.  I  had  the  honor  of  receiving  your  letter  of 
the  17th  ulto.  tendering  to  me,  a  Sword  which  accompanied  it, 
bestowed  by  North  Carolina  as  a  testimony  of  the  flattering  senti- 
ments which  she  entertained  in  relation  to  my  conduct  in  the  affair  of 
the  7th  of  October  1780  on  King's  Mountain. 

Engaged  as  my  beloved  country  then  was  in  a  struggle  for  every 
thing  dear  to  man,  she  had  a  right  to  expect  the  zealous  exertions 
of  her  citizens  in  her  behalf.  Devoted  to  the  cause  of  my  country, 
impelled  by  a  high  sense  of  the  obligations,  I  owed  her,  and  by  an 
utter  aversion  to  the  tyranny  which  was  endeavouring  to  oppress 
her,  I  freely  participated  in  those  exertions  which  lead  to,  &  that 
conflict  which  terminated  so  favorable  to  our  arms,  &  evidently  gave 
a  favorable  turn  to  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  in  relation  to  which 
the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina  have  been  pleased  to  express  them- 
selves in  a  manner  the  most  flattering  to  my  feelings. 

If  the  freeborn  sons  of  America  wanted  any  stimulus  to  draw  them 
forth  in  defence  of  her  rights,  other  than  a  conviction  that  upon 
their  exertions  depended  the  continuance  of  those  rights — it  might  be 
found  in  the  heartfelt  satisfaction  derived  from  the  consolation  of 
having  meritted  and  received  the  applause  of  a  grateful  [country]  for 
the  toils  and  dangers  encountered  in  her  behalf. 

Having  lived  ten  years  of  the  happiest  part  of  my  life  in  North 
Carolina  and  having  received  repeated  marks  of  the  partiality  of  my 
fellow  citizens  in  that  Government  during  my  residence  amongst  them, 
I  have  ever  entertained  the  warmest  feelings  of  fraternal  affection, 
and  good  will  for  them.     And  I  now  accept  with  veneration  &  respect 
this  honorable  pledge  of  a  continuance  of  their  affection. 
With  considerations  of  high  respect  and  Esteem 
I  have  the  honor  to  be 
Most  respectfully 

Your   Ob    Servant 

Isaac  Shelby. 
His  Excellency 

William  Hawkins 

Governor  of  North  Carolina.45 


15From  the  Letter  Book  of  Governor  William  Hawkins,  1812-3,  pp.  414-5. 
Collections  of  the  North  Carolina  Historical  Commission.  For  this  copy  I  am 
indebted  to  Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor.  Secretary  of  the  N.  C.  Historical  Commission. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  35 


IX 


The  battle  of  King's  Mountain  was  decisive  in  its  effect — 
shattering  the  plans  of  Cornwallis  which  till  then  appeared 
certain  of  success,  and  putting  a  full  stop  to  the  invasion  of 
North  Carolina,  then  well  under  way.  Cornwallis  abandoned 
his  prepared  campaign  and  left  the  State.  The  initiative  of 
the  borderers,  the  loyalty  of  the  militia,  the  energy  of  the 
pursuit,  the  perfection  of  the  surprise,  all  reinforced  by 
ideal  tactics  to  meet  the  given  situation,  were  the  controlling 
factors  in  this  overwhelming  victory,  and  pivotal  contest  of 
the  Revolution.  The  pioneers  of  the  Old  Southwest — the 
independent  and  aggressive  yeomanry  of  North  Carolina, 
Virginia,  and  South  Carolina — had  risen  in  their  might; 
and  without  the  authority  of  blundering  State  governments, 
had  created  an  army  of  frontiersmen,  Indian  fighters,  and 
big  game  hunters  which  found  no  parallel  or  equal  on  the 
continent  since  the  battle  of  the  Great  Kanawha.* 

The  survey  of  the  situation  as  given  by  Shelby  is  interest- 
ing as  coming  from  a  participant  in  the  events : 

This  battle  happened  at  the  most  gloomy  and  critical  period  of 
the  Revolutionary  War,  and  was  the  first  link  in  the  great  chain  of 
events  in  the  South  that  established  the  independence  of  the  United 
States.  It  was  achieved  by  raw  and  undisciplined  riflemen  without 
any  authority  from  the  Government  under  which  they  lived.  It  com- 
pletely dispirited  the  Tories  and  so  much  alarmed  Lord  Cornwallis, 
who  then  lay  at  Charlottstown  with  the  British  grand  army  that  on 
being  informed  of  Ferguson's  total  defeat  and  overthrow  by  the 
riflemen  from  the  west,  and  that  they  were  bearing  down  upon  him, 
three  thousand  strong,  he  ordered  an  immediate  retreat,  marched  all 
night  in  the  utmost  confusion  and  retrograded  as  far  back  as  Winns- 
borough  seventy  or  eighty  miles,  from  whence  he  did  not  attempt  to 
advance  until  reinforced  by  General  Leslie  from  the  Chesapeake  with 
2,000  men.  three  months  afterward.  In  the  meantime  the  militia  of 
North  Carolina  assembled  in  considerable  force  at  New  Providence 
on  the  borders  of  South  Carolina  under  General  Davidson.  General 
Smallwood  with  General  Morgan's  light  corps,  and  the  Maryland  line 


♦Narratives  of  the  King's  Mountain  campaign,  which  have  proved  of  value  in 
this  research,   are  the  accounts  of  General   Joseph  Graham    (Southern  Literary 
Messenger,    September    1845),    Geneal    William    Lenoir    (Wheeler's    Sketches    of 
Noi-th    Carolina,    ii,    105-108)    and    Captain    David    Vance    (Greensboro     N     C 
edited  by  D.  L.  Schenck,  1891). 


36  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

advanced  to  the  same  point.  General  Gates  with  the  shattered 
remains  of  his  army  collected  at  Hillsborough  also  came  up  and  the 
new  levies  (?)  from  Virginia  under  General  Stephens  of  1,000  men 
came  forward.  At  the  same  time,  (to  wit)  the  second  or  third  of 
December,  General  Green  came  up  and  took  the  command,  and  thus 
was  dispelled  the  dismal  gloom  which  had  pervaded  the  Southern 
States. 

Following  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  the  patriot  force 
hanged  nine  Tory  prisoners.  This  act  has  been  severely  con- 
demned ;  but  it  is  scarcely  to  be  doubted  that  nothing  short 
of  such  drastic  action  would  have  had  a  decisively  deterrent 
effect  upon  future  Tory  murderings  and  depredations.  Shel- 
by's own  account  of  this  seemingly  inexcusable  and  ruthless 
act  is  quoted  here,  both  as  a  picture  of  the  times  and  as  a 
recital  of  Shelby's  own  part  in  the  matter : 

The  prisoners  were  marched  back  on  the  trail  that  the  army  had 
advanced  upon,  as  well  to  join  the  men  who  were  left  behind  with 
weak  horses  and  on  foot,  as  to  avoid  Lord  Cornwallis  who  they  be- 
lieved to  be  only  thirty  or  forty  miles  to  the  North  (incoherent)  after 
meeting  the  footmen  and  took  a  circuitous  route  towards  the  Moun- 
tains by  Gilbert  town,  where  we  met  an  American  officer  paroled 
from  Ninety  six  only  the  day  before,  who  informed,  that  he  had  seen 
eleven  American  citizens  hung  at  that  place  within  a  few  days  past, 
merely  for  their  attachment  to  the  cause  of  their  country.  This  very 
much  exasperated  the  American  officers,  at  the  same  time  a  Repre- 
sentative from  Assembly  which  just  set  at  Hillsborough  came  into 
camp  and  had  with  him  the  manuscript  of  a  law,  authorizing  two  jus- 
tices within  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  to  cause  to  be  apprehended 
any  citizen  or  loyalist  who  might  be  found  in  arms  against  his 
country,  and  if  found  guilty  of  treason  to  order  him  to  immediate 
execution  without  any  pleading  in  the  case.  The  army  with  the 
prisoners  were  by  this  time  in  Rutherford  County  in  North  Carolina, 
a  Sheriff  of  which,  as  well  as  several  Justices  of  the  Peace  of  the 
said  County,  were  also  in  camp.  Our  Commander  called  a  Council 
of  officers  to  deliberate  on  the  subject,  who  determined  unanimously  to 
try  several  of  the  prisoners  under  the  aforesaid  act  of  Assembly. 
The  8th  day  after  the  action  they  commenced  trying  them  early  in 
the  morning  beginning  with  the  most  atrocious  offender  first  who  had 
committed  murder  deliberately  in  cold  blood,  and  who  had  otherwise 
murdered  and  destroyed  the  families  of  the  Whigs,  burned  down 
houses,  etc.,  and  committed  the  most  atrocious  crimes.  They  con- 
tinued to  try  them  until  they  had  condemned  36  to  be  hung,  and  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  night  following  commenced  hanging  them,  after  they 


ISAAC    SHELBY  37 

had  hung  nine  of  them,  three  at  a  time,  and  the  fourth  parcel  of 
them  was  just  about  to  be  turned  off  the  scaffold  it  was  agreed  on 
by  Sevier,  Cleveland  and  Shelby  upon  a  motion  of  the  latter,  that  they 
would  put  a  stop  to  any  further  execution,  and  addressed  Campbell  on 
the  subject,  who  readily  came  into  their  views,  and  released  the 
three  men  that  were  then  under  the  gallows  to  be  executed,  one  of 
whom  informed  that  Tarlton  would  be  upon  us  next  morning,  that  a 
woman  had  come  into  camp  in  the  evening,  and  gave  the  information 
to  the  British  officers,  who  communicated  it  to  the  Tories.  The 
Americans  immediately  all  mounted  their  horses,  and  were  ready  to 
march  as  soon  as  it  was  light  enough  to  see  for  the  night  was 
excessively  dark ;  as  soon  as  they  could  see  the  way  they  started 
directly  toward  the  mountains,  got  into  level  valley  that  lead  imme- 
diately toward  the  North.  We  had  not  marched  a  mile  before 
DePeyster  rode  up  to  Col.  Shelby  and  enquired  "which  way  was  that 
they  were  going,"  to  which  the  Col.  replied,  that  they  were  going  up 
into  their  native  element,  the  mountains.  When  DePeyster  cried  out, 
"you  smell  a  rat,"  Shelby  replied  that  they  knew  all  about  it.  It 
commenced  raining  just  after  daylight,  and  was  I  believe,  the  wettest 
day  I  have  even  seen  since ;  so  heavy  was  the  rain  that  many  parts 
of  the  valley  became  waist  deep.  The  Americans  continued  their 
march  until  two  o'clock  that  night,  although  it  was  dark  as  pitch,  and 
the  road  could  be  seen  by  the  continued  flashes  of  lightning,  when 
they  came  to  the  Catawba  River  which  they  supposed  to  be  rising 
very  fast  from  the  quantity  of  rain  that  had  fallen.  The  prisoners 
were  forced  into  the  water  in  a  column  of  six  deep  as  they  usually 
marched,  and  ordered  to  hold  fast  to  each  other  as  the  current  was 
very  strong.  Our  march  that  day  and  night  was  36  miles  and  the 
river  next  morning  had  risen  10  feet.  This  escape  excited  feelings  of 
the  deepest  gratitude  in  the  breasts  of  the  Americans,  after  they  had 
reached  a  place  of  safety.  It  was  a  well  known  fact  to  all  men  who 
lived  in  that  day,  that  the  execution  of  these  nine  prisoners,  put  a 
stop  to  the  hanging  of  any  more  American  citizens  at  Camden  and 
Ninety-six,  where  several  hundred  persons  had  been  previously 
executed  at  those  two  places,  purely  for  their  attachment  to  the 
American  cause.  The  prisoners  taken  at  King's  Mountain  were  given 
up  by  the  Mountaineers  to  the  militia  assembled  at  Moravian  Town 
to  receive  them,  and  afterwards  marched  to  Salisbury  where  they 
were  crowded  into  the  jail  and  other  houses  prepared  to  receive 
them. 

No  account  with  any  pretensions,  either  to  accuracy  or 
consecutiveness,  has  ever  been  given  of  the  relation  of  Shelby, 
Sevier  and  the  western  leaders,  to  the  cause  of  the  Revolu- 
tion subsequent  to  the  Battle  of  King's  Mountain.  The  his- 
tories teem  with  inaccuracies  and  inexplicable  confusions  of 


38  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

names  and  dates.  The  recent  discovery  of  letters  and  docu- 
ments, bearing  on  this  period,  make  it  possible  for  me  to  give 
for  the  first  time,  I  believe,  a  reliable  and  consistent  account 
of  the  role  played  by  Shelby  and  some  of  the  other  frontier 
leaders  in  the  closing  years  of  the  Revolution. 

There  is  an  interesting  revelation  of  vanity  in  Shelby's 
Autobiography,  in  which  he  claims  the  credit,  usually 
ascribed  to  General  Nathaniel  Greene,  for  the  plan  of  cam- 
paign which  eventuated  in  Morgan's  defeat  of  Tarleton. 
This  passage  gives  us  an  account  also  of  Shelby's  movements, 
following  the  delivery  of  the  prisoners  taken  at  King's  Moun- 
tain to  the  authorities  at  Salem: 

When  the  British  had  gotten  possession  of  the  posts  of  Ninety  Six 
and  Augusta,  they  had  an  open  communication  with  the  Southern 
Indians,  and  furnished  them  with  arms  and  ammunition  by  which 
means  the  Cherokees  were  enabled  to  wage  a  constant  war  against 
the  new  settlements  forming  on  the  western  waters  of  North  Caro- 
lina. Col.  Shelby  had  long  viewed  this  evil  without  being  able  to 
devise  any  means  to  prevent  it.  But  after  the  prisoners  taken  at 
King's  Mountain  were  disposed  of  at  Moravian  town,  he  set  out  from 
there  to  go  to  Headquarters,  to  solicit  the  Commander-in-Chief  to 
send  Gen.  Morgan  with  his  light  troops  into  the  upper  country,  to 
subdue  those  two  posts.  He  knew  from  his  own  knowledge  that 
Morgan  would  be  strongly  reinforced  by  the  mountain  men,  and 
many  others  who  had  left  their  homes  in  the  upper  parts  of  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina  rather  than  submit  to  the  enemy.  He  found 
headquarters  at  a  place  called  New  Providence  on  the  border  of 
South  Carolina,  and  under  the  command  of  Maj.  Gen.  Smallwood. 
He  first  communicated  the  object  of  his  visit  to  camp  to  Gen.  Morgan 
who  seemed  highly  pleased  and  gratified  at  the  suggestions  made  to 
him,  readily  entered  into  his  views,  saw  at  once  the  probable  chance 
of  success  and  said  it  was  just  what  he  had  wanted,  a  separate 
command.  He  also  made  these  suggestions  to  Gen.  Smallwood,  think- 
ing he  might  possibly  order  Morgan  on  but  although  he  highly  ap- 
proved the  measure,  he  would  not  take  upon  himself  the  responsi- 
bility, as  Gen.  Gates  would  be  in  himself  in  a  few  days,  and  advised 
him  to  wait  his  arrival.  He  waited  in  camp  upwards  of  a  fortnight, 
when  it  was  announced  that  Gen.  Gates  was  near  at  hand.  He  set 
out  next  morning  with  six  or  eight  officers  to  go  to  him  and  meet  him 
about  seven  miles  from  camp  with  the  remains  of  his  army  col- 
lected at  Hillsborough.  On  Gates'  arrival  at  camp  he  invited  Shelby 
to  dine  with  him  the  next  day.  He  was  proud  to  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  his  communications,  and  went  before  the  usual  hour. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  39 

Gen.  Gates  gave  him  a  cordial  reception  and  invited  him  in.  Col. 
Shelby  replied  that  he  had  some  important  communications  to  make 
to  him,  that  he  had  come  early  for  that  purpose,  and  would  be  glad 
if  he  would  afford  him  an  opportunity  to  do  so.  Gates  pointing  to  a 
log  a  few  rods  from  his  door  proposed  to  sit  down  on  it.  Before  he 
heard  all  that  Shelby  had  to  say,  he  saw  the  practicability  and 
importance  of  the  measure  proposed  and  observed,  that  if  the  board 
of  war  of  North  Carolina  then  sitting  at  Charlottstown  would  aid 
him  with  five  hundred  militia,  he  would  send  Morgan  up  with  his 
light  corps  immediately.  Gen.  Gates  was  accordingly  on  horseback 
next  morning  before  sunrise,  and  as  he  passed  with  his  guards  by 
Davidson's  marked  where  Shelby  lodged ;  he  joined  him,  and  they 
arrived  early  at  Charlotte.  Gates  opened  the  subject  to  the  board 
of  war — which  consisted  of  Alexander  Martin  alone  (who  was  then 
or  shortly  after  Governor  of  the  State)  who  very  soon  saw  the 
propriety  of  the  measure  and  requested  Shelby  to  stay  until  next 
morning,  and  take  some  communications  to  the  Northern  counties  of 
the  State,  which  was  on  his  way  home  where  the  men  must  be  raised, 
which  he  did ;  for  the  counties  around  Charlotte  had  been  drained  to 
form  the  camp  at  New  Providence  which  then  opposed  the  enemy. 
Col.  Shelby  set  out  the  next  morning,  from  Charlotte,  which  was 
about  the  2d  or  3d  of  December,  1780,  and  met  Gen.  Green  about 
three  miles  from  town,  going  forward  to  take  command  of  the 
Southern  army.  Shelby  had  no  idea  that  Tarlton,  or  any  force  would 
be  sent  up  to  oppose  Morgan  in  that  distant  upper  county,  he  only 
contemplated  the  reduction  of  the  two  posts,  Ninety  Six  and  Augusta. 
And  if  Gen.  Green  is  entitled  to  any  credit  for  the  defeat  of  Tarlton 
by  Morgan,  it  is  merely  that  he  permitted  the  enterprise  to  go  on 
which  led  to  that  event,  and  which  had  been  planned  and  ordered  by 
Gen.  Gates  (on  the  suggestion  of  Shelby  before  he  was  superseded, 
and  before  Green  took  the  command )  Col.  Shelby  was  at  a  loss  to 
determine  why  so  much  time  had  elapsed  from  Green's  taking  the 
command  on  the  17th  of  January  unless  it  was  owing  to  the  tardi- 
ness of  the  militia  orders  by  the  board  of  war  as  before  stated,  to 
John  Morgan,  or  to  the  scarcity  of  provisions.  For  he  can  say  of  his 
own  knowledge  that  there  was  never  more  than  two  days  provisions 
at  any  one  time  while  he  stayed  in  the  camp  near  three  weeks ;  the 
country  at  that  time  being  drained  of  supplies. 

X 

The  value  which  was  universally  set  upon  the  services  of 
the  over-mountain  men  and  their  leaders,  Shelby  and  Sevier, 
following  the  overwhelming  victory  of  King's  Mountain  is 
fully  attested  in  documents  of  the  period.     The  following 


40  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

letter,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  above-quoted  passage 
from  Shelby's  Autobiography,  is  significant : 

Camp  New  Providence,  23d  November,  1780. 

Sir :  Colo.  Shelby  have  been  in  camp  for  some  time,  waiting  to  lend 
his  Aid,  should  anything  go  on  offensive,  but  apprehending  not  much 
will  be  done  this  winter.  And  his  domestick  business  call  for  him, 
and  he  having  no  command,  is  now  on  his  way  home.  I  have  been 
speaking  to  him  to  raise  about  three  hundred  good  rifle  men  this 
winter  for  the  campaign.  &  join  me  early  in  the  spring.  He  says 
he  would  willingly  undertake  it,  provided  he  had  a  sanction  for  it. 
How  far  the  Assembly  of  North  Carolina  would  be  disposed  to 
countenance  such  a  thing  I  don't  know,  but  I  assure  you  that  a 
Number  of  such  men  would  be  a  valuable  Corps  when  annex'd  to  the 
Light  Infantry,  which  must  be  made  equal  if  not  superior  to  Tarlton's 
Legion  before  this  country  can  be  defended.  If  you  think  proper  to 
countenance  a  matter  of  this  kind,  you'll  be  kind  enough  to  signify 
your  approbation  to  Colo.  Shelby  and  point  out  the  mode. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  be,  with  much 

Esteem,  your  obedt.  servt. 

Danl.  Morgan. 
The  Honble.  M.  Genl.  Gates. 

The  greatest  contemporary  tribute  to  the  leaders  of  the 
King's  Mountain  campaign,  showing  the  high  estimation  in 
which  their  services  were  held  and  the  need  generally  felt  for 
the  assistance  to  the  American  cause  they  could  render,  is 
found  in  the  following  action  taken  by  the  North  Carolina 
Assembly  at  Halifax  on  February  13,  1781 : 

Resolved,  That  Colonel  Isaac  Shelby  of  Sullivan  County  and  John 
Sevier,  Esqr.,  of  Washington  County,  be  informed  by  this  Resolve 
being  communicated  to  them  that  the  General  Assembly  of  this  State 
are  feelingly  impressed  with  the  very  generous  and  patriotic  ser- 
vices rendered  by  the  Inhabitants  of  the  said  Counties,  to  which  their 
influence  had  in  great  degree  contributed  and  earnestly  urge  that 
they  would  press  a  continuance  of  the  same  active  exertion ;  that  the 
State  of  the  Country  is  such  as  to  call  forth  the  utmost  powers  im- 
mediately in  order  to  preserve  its  freedom  and  Independence,  and 
that  we  may  by  the  assistance  of  our  friends  in  Virginia,  as  they 
have  occasionally  by  us,  as  emergencies  induced  them,  availed  of  it, 
we  suggest  our  wishes  that  Colonel  Arthur  Campbell  and  Colonel 
William  Preston  of  Virginia,  thro'  the  Gentlemen  mentioned,  may  be 
informed    that   their   spirited    conduct   heretofore   in   favor   of   the 


ISAAC    SHELBY  41 

Southern  States  affords  us  the  most  perfect  assurance  that  they  will 
make  every  active  and  effectual  exertion  at  the  present  critical 
foment  in  favor  of  this  State. 

\  At  this  same  time,  Ex-Governor  Richard  Caswell,  an  inti- 
mate acquaintance  of  Isaac  Shelby,  "depicted  to  him  the 
melancholy  circumstances  of  his  own  State.  The  Tories 
were  in  motion  all  over  North  Carolina,  and  their  footsteps 
were  marked  with  blood,  and  their  path  was  indicated  by  the 
most  desolating  devastations.  Governor  Caswell  conjured 
him  to  turn  to  the  relief  of  his  distressed  country."46  The 
Continental  Congress,  through  their  laudatory  resolution  of 
November  15,  1780,  and  the  general  officers  of  the  American 
army,  including  Gates,  Greene  and  Morgan,  having  ascer- 
tained the  military  value  of  the  fighting  frontiersmen,  the 
inevitable  result  was  that  General  Greene,  on  January  30, 
1781,  wrote  to  "the  famous  Colonel  William  Campbell,"  re- 
minding him  of  the  glory  he  had  already  acquired,  and  urging 
him  "to  bring,  without  loss  of  time,  a  thousand  good  volun- 
teers from  over  the  mountains."47  The  difficulties  which  the 
frontiersmen  were  experiencing  with  the  Indians  at  this 
period,  in  a  succession  of  campaigns,  put  out  of  the  question 
the  sending  of  any  large  force  to  assist  Greene  in  his  North 
Carolina  campaign.  No  sooner  had  Sevier  returned  from 
the  King's  Mountain  campaign  than  he  was  called  upon  to 
lead  three  hundred  horsemen  from  Watauga,  in  conjunction 
with  three  hundred  from  Sullivan  County,  and  one  hundred 
from  Washington  County,  Virginia — the  whole  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Arthur  Campbell,  County-Lieutenant  of 
Washington  County,  against  the  Cherokees.  Upon  the  return 
of  Colonel  Campbell  from  this  expedition,  which  was  en- 
tirely successful,  the  first  of  January,  1781,  he  immediately 
communicated  with  General  Nathaniel  Greene,  the  Com- 
mander of  the  Southern  Department,  who  accordingly,  on 
February    6,    1781,    appointed   Arthur    Campbell,    William 


46Haywood  :  Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee.  In  slavishly  following 
Haywood,  Ramsey  (p.  251)  falls  into  the  error  of  stating  that  Caswell,  instead 
of  Abner  Nash,  was  Governor  of  North  Carolina  in  1781. 

^Draper  :  King's  Mountain  and  its  Heroes,  391 ;  Summers  :  South  West  Vir- 
ginia, 327-360  passim. 


42  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Preston,  William  Christian  and  Joseph  Martin,  of  Virginia, 
and  Robert  Lanier,  Evan  Shelby,  Joseph  Williams  and  John 
Sevier,  of  North  Carolina,  commissioners  to  meet  commis- 
sioners from  the  Cherokees  to  treat  on  the  subject  of  bound- 
aries, to  arrange  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners  and  terms 
of  peace,  and  to  invite  the  Indians  to  appoint  a  commission 
to  visit  Congress.48 

The  treaty  was  set  for  March  24,  1781,  at  the  Long  Island 
of  Holston  River.  On  that  day  Colonels  Campbell,  Martin, 
Shelby  and  Sevier  assembled  there,  and,  sent  off  one  of  the 
Indians  captured  in  the  recent  campaign  to  the  Indian  nation 
proposing  peace  and  fixing  June  10th  following  as  the  date 
for  the  conference.  The  date  was  again  postponed  until  July 
20,  1781. 49  Continued  depredations  by  the  hostile  Indians 
earlier  in  the  year  seriously  hampered  the  Tennessee  and  Vir- 
ginia borderers  at  this  time;  and  Col.  John  Sevier,  suspect- 
ing that  "the  perpetrators  of  this  mischief  came  from  some 
hostile  towns  in  the  mountain  gorges,"  had  resolved  to  lead 
an  expedition  against  them. 

In  March  of  this  year  Colonels  John  Sevier  and  Isaac  Shelby  un- 
dertook an  expedition  against  the  Chickamauga  Indians,  and  to  assist 
in  this  undertaking  200  of  the  militia  of  Washington  county  joined 
Colonel  Isaac  Shelby  and  marched  to  the  Big  Island  in  the  French 
Broad  River,  where  the  troops  were  rendezvoused,  from  which  point 
they  marched  for  the  sources  of  the  Mobile  River,  and  after  the  third 
day  they  crossed  the  Tennessee  river  at  Scitico,  at  which  point  they 
held  a  council  with  the  friendly  Indians.  On  the  6th  day  they  en- 
camped on  the  Hiawassee  river,  and  on  the  7th  day  they  crossed  the 
river  and  passed  into  the  territory  of  the  hostile  Indians,  Colonel 
Sevier  with  his  forces,  marched  immediately  against  Vann's  Towns, 
which  he  reduced  to  ashes,  and  thence  to  Bull  Town,  at  the  head  of 
Chickamogga  Creek.  After  the  destruction  of  this  town  they  marched 
to  the  Coosa  river,  where  they  killed  a  white  man  by  the  name  of 
Clements  from  whom  it  was  ascertained  that  he  was  a  sergeant  in 
the  British  army,  and  it  was  believed  that  he  instigated  the  Indians 
in  their  depredations  against  the  frontiers.  The  army  then  pro- 
ceeded to  Spring  Frog  Town,  thence  up  the  Coosa  river  to  Estanola 
and  Indian  Town  which  they  destroyed.     After  thus  destroying  the 


48Weeks  :  General  Joseph  Martin  and  the  War  of  the  Revolution  in  the  West, 
429-433;  Haywood:  Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee  (1823)  ;  Summers: 
Southwest  Virginia,  348. 

^Calendar  Virginia  State  Papers,  ii,  199. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  43 

Indian  towns  and  killing  all  the  Indian  Warriors  they  could  find,  the 
troops  returned  to  Chote,  where  a  council  was  held  with  the  friendly 
Indians,  at  the  conclusion  of  which  the  troops  were  disbanded  and 
returned  to  their  homes.50 

Although  neither  Shelby  nor  Sevier  could  lead  a  force  of 
mountain  men  to  the  relief  of  Greene,  Captain  Charles  Rob- 
ertson raised  a  company  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  volun- 
teers and  took  a  creditable  part  in  the  battle  of  Guilford 
Courthouse  on  March  15,  1781. 51  With  equal  patriotism, 
Colonel  William  Campbell  raised  a  company  of  one  hundred 
men  of  the  militia  of  Washington  County,  and  on  February 
25,  1781,  set  out  to  join  the  militia  of  Botetourt  and  Mont- 
gomery counties,  on  their  march  to  join  General  Greene's 
army.  "A  large  number  would  have  gone,"  says  Arthur  Camp- 
bell in  a  letter  to  Governor  Thomas  Jefferson,  of  Virginia,  of 
date  February  28,  1781,  "were  it  not  for  the  daily  apprehen- 
sion of  attacks  from  the  northward  and  southern  Indians." 
About  March  3,  Colonel  Campbell  with  sixty  followers  in  his 
immediate  command,  effected  a  junction  with  Greene's  army ; 
but  the  total  number  of  the  combined  forces  of  William  Camp- 
bell and  William  Preston,  who  reached  Greene  about  the 
same  time,  was  upwards  of  four  hundred.52  These  forces 
fought  with  staunchness  and  bravery  at  Guilford  Courthouse, 
fully  justifying  Greene's  description  of  the  "back  country 
people"  as  "bold  and  daring  in  their  make."0'3 

XI 

Following  the  Battle  of  Guilford  Courthouse,  Greene  de- 
voted his  attention  to  reducing  the  British  posts  in  South 


5"This  account  is  taken  from  Summer:  Southwest  Virginia,  360-1.  Cf.  also 
Ramsey  :  Tennessee,  268-9  ;  Weeks  :  Joseph  Martin,  432.  In  his  Autobiography, 
Shelby  makes  no  mention  of  having  taken  part  in  this  expedition. 

"Ramsey  :  Annals  of  Tennessee,  251  ;  cf.  monograph,  Major  Charles  Robert- 
son, and  Some  of  His  Descendants,  by  Mrs.  Charles  Fairfax  Henley.  Cf.  also 
Schenck's  North  Carolina,  1780-1,  302. 

^Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  542  ;  Johnson's  Greene,  i.  455.  Draper  is 
in  error  in  giving  the  citation  to  Johnson,  i,  438,  in  support  of  the  statement 
that  there  were  "four  hundred  mountaineers"  under  Campbell;  the  allusion  is 
to  the  "400  regulars,  under  Colonel  Richard  Campbell,"  who  had  been  organ- 
ized and  despatched  to  Greene's  relief  by  the  Baron  Steuben.  (Schenck's  North 
Carolina:  1780-81,  272.) 

MCf.  Ramsey's  Annals  of  Tennessee,  251-2,  for  comments  upon  the  probable 
results  of  that  battle,  had  Shelby  and  Sevier  led  the  over-mountain  men  to 
Greene's   assistance. 


44  THE  NORTH  CAKOLINA  BOOKLET 

Carolina  and  Georgia.  After  the  fall  of  Augusta,  on  June 
25,  only  Ninety-six  remained  in  British  hands ;  but  Greene 
was  foiled  in  his  attack  upon  that  post  on  June  18  and  19. 
From  the  "Camp  at  Bush  River,  in  the  District  of  Ninety-six, 
June  22,  1781,"  Greene  once  more  appealed  for  aid  to  the 
Watauga  riflemen  in  a  letter  to  Isaac  Shelby,  hitherto  unpub- 
lished.   In  this  important  letter  he  says : 

We  have  been  ui>on  the  eve  of  reducing  all  the  enemies  interior 
posts  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Ninety-Six  was  the  last  and 
four  days  more  would  have  completed  its  reduction,  when,  unfor- 
tunately, we  were  compelled  to  raise  the  siege,  the  enemy  having 
been  reinforced  at  Charlestovvn.  Lord  Rawdou  marched  out  in 
force  and  is  now  in  our  neighborhood.  To  secure  the  advantages  of 
our  past  success  it  is  necessary  we  should  drive  the  enemy  into  the 
lower  country.  To  enable  us  to  effect  this  I  beg  you  to  march  to  our 
assistance  a  thousand  good  riflemen,  well  armed  and  equipped  tit  for 
action.  If  you  can  join  us  in  a  few  days  with  such  a  force  you  will 
render  an  important  service  to  the  public  in  general,  to  the  State  of 
South  Carolina  in  particular,  and  lay  me  under  very  particular  obli- 
gations.    I  feel  myself  deeply  interested  in  this  application. 

At  the  time  when  this  letter  reached  Shelby,  the  military 
leaders  of  Virginia  and  Tennessee  were  busily  concerned  in 
the  negotiations  for  peace  with  the  Cherokees.  Isaac  Shelby 
attended  the  treaty  at  the  Long  Island  of  Holston  from  July 
20  to  July  29,  1781.  The  despatches  from  the  Commissioners 
to  General  Greene,  reporting  the  results  of  this  treaty,  were 
entrusted  to  Shelby  for  delivery,  as  it  was  known  that  he  had 
promised  General  Greene  to  raise  a  force  and  march  to  his 
aid.  The  following  letter,  hitherto  unpublished  in  any  his- 
tory, exhibits  in  detail  the  efforts  made  by  Shelby  and  Sevier 
to  raise  and  to  march  a  force  to  cooperate  with  Greene. 

Camp  on  Wattauga  Washington  County 

North  Carolina  3d  August  1781. 
Hond.  Sir:  In  answer  to  your  request  of  the  22d  June  last  I  rote 
you  by  the  Express,  that  I  should  March  by  the  loth  July  with  what 
force  cou'd  be  rais'd  in  this  quarter,  but  the  Cherokee  Treaty  not 
being  over  found  it  impracticable  to  draw  any  force  from  here  untill 
that  important  Business  (to  this  frontier)  was  finally  ratified,  which 
was  done  the  29th  July,  and  immediately  every  step  taken  to  rein- 


ISAAC    SHELBY  45 

force  you ;  about  TOO  good  riflemen  well  mounted  were  now  in  motion 
toward  you  &  should  have  been  down  in  as  short  a  time  as  possible 
but  an  Express  arrived  in  camp  last  night  from  General  Pickens  that 
informed  us  of  the  Enemys  retreat  to  Orangeburg  and  perhaps  to 
Charles  Town,  that  distance  being  so  very  great  for  us,  the  warm 
season  of  the  year  &  the  men  not  prepared  for  so  long  a  Tower,  had 
induced  Col.  Severe  of  this  county  and  myself  from  proceeding  on 
our  march,  until  one  hear  farther  accounts  from  that  quarter  tho  the 
men  are  ordered  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  march  on  the 
shortest  notice,  and  as  our  country  is  now  in  a  state  of  peace  and 
tranquility,  have  no  doubt  but  we  can  furnish  you  with  a  largp  pro- 
portion of  good  men  from  here  whenever  you  may  find  necessary  to 
require  us. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be  with,  respect 

Your  Mo.  Obt.  Humble  Servt. 

Endorsed:  Isaac  Shelby.14 

From  Colo.  Shelby 
Augt.  3d.,  1781. 

After  Shelby  and  Sevier  concluded  not  to  march,  Shelby 
returned  the  despatches  for  Greene,  mentioned  above,  to  the 
Commissioners  who  had  negotiated  the  treaty  with  the  Chero- 
kees.'^  Greene  had  been  greatly  depressed  by  the  failure  of 
Shelby  and  Sevier  to  march  their  seven  hundred  riflemen  to 
his  assistance ;  and  throughout  July  he  was  frequently  heard 
to  exclaim:  "What  can  detain  Shelby  and  Sevier  ?";'fi  Writ- 
ing to  Colonel  Lee  from  Camden  on  August  25,  Greene  de- 
spondently says  :  "We  are  thus  far  on  our  way  to  join  Colonel 
Henderson,  but  the  tardiness  with  which  everybody  moves 
who  was  expected  to  join  us,  almost  makes  me  repent  that  I 
have  put  the  troops  in  motion.  Near  two  hundred  of  the 
North  Carolina  Regulars,  who  ought  to  have  been  here  four 
days  past,  are  not  likely  to  be  here  for  four  or  five  to  come. 
Colonel  Shelby,  I  believe,  had  gone  back,  if  he  ever  set  out, 
which  I  much  doubt.  General  Pickens  had  not  been  heard  of, 
and  I  fear  will  not  have  it  in  his  power  to  bring  any  con- 


MOriginal  MS.  letter  owned  by  Arthur  M.  Rutledge,  of  Louisville,  Kentucky. 
Draper  is  in  error  in  statins?  that  Greene's  letter  to  Shelby  miscarried.  (Kinr/'s 
Mountain  and  its  Heroes,  413)  Johnson  erroneously  cites  Sevier  as  the  author  of 
Shelby's  letter  above   (Greene,  ii,  210,1. 

^Shelby's  Autobiography.  The  details  of  the  treaty,  it  seems,  have  never  been 
published.  G.  W.  Greene  clearly  is  in  error  in  giving  the  date  of  Shelby's  letter 
to  Greene  as  August  0  (Life  of  Nathaniel  Greene,  iii,  374n).  Cf.  also  Johnson: 
Greene,  ii,  184-5. 

•^Johnson's  Greene,  ii,  210. 


46  THE  NOETH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

siderable  reinforcements ;  nor  do  I  expect  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Henderson  will  be  able  to  do  much  more.  The  State  troops 
I  am  told  (are)  all  getting  sickly,  as  is  the  North  Carolina 
Regulars.  Not  more  than  one-half  the  militia  from  North 
Carolina  are  arrived,  and  the  whole  that  are  here  don't  exceed 
four  hundred.  You  know  I  never  despair,  nor  shrink  at  diffi- 
culties, but  our  prospects  are  not  flattering."57 

Greene  continued  to  rely  upon  receiving  reinforcements 
from  Watauga;  and  after  his  victory  at  Eutaw  Springs,  he 
despatched  to  Shelby  the  following  letter,  which  was  to  have 
momentous  consequences.  This  letter  was  not  received  by 
Shelby  before  the  last  of  September  or  first  of  October,  as  it 
"came  through  Virginia,  was  found  in  Henry  County  by  a 
neighbor,  and  brought  out  at  his  leisure." 

Head  Quarters, 
High  Hills  of  Santee 
Sept.  16,  1781. 
Dear  Sir  : 

I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  we  had  an  action  with  the 
British  Army  on  the  8th  in  which  we  were  victorious.  We  took 
500  prisoners  and  killed  and  wounded  a  much  greater  number.  We 
also  took  near  1000  stand  of  arms,  and  have  driven  the  enemy  near 
to  the  gates  of  Charleston.  I  have  also  the  pleasure  to  inform  you 
that,  a  large  French  fleet  of  nearly  thirty  sail  of  the  line,  has 
arrived  in  the  Chessepeak  bay,  with  a  considerable  number  of  land 
forces ;  all  of  which  are  to  be  employed  against  Lord  Cornwallis,  who 
it  is  suspected  will  endeavor  to  make  good  his  retreat  through  North 
Carolina  to  Charleston.  To  prevent  which  I  beg  you  to  bring  out  as 
many  riflemen  as  you  can,  and  as  soon  as  possible.  You  will  march 
them  to  Charlotte,  and  inform  me  the  moment  you  set  out,  and  of 
your  arrival. 

If  we  can  intercept  his  lordship  it  will  put  a  finishing  stroke  to 
the  war  in  the  Southern  states. 

Should  I  get  any  intelligence  which  may  change  the  face  of  mat- 
ters I  will  advise  you.  I  am  with  esteem  and  regard,  your  most 
obedient  &  humble  Servant,  Nath.  Green. 

Col.  Shelby,  back  parts  of  North  Carolina.58 


5TH.  Lee:   Campaign  of  1781  in  the  Carolinas   (1824),  455-6. 

58Letter  of  Isaac  Shelby  to  C.  S.  Todd,  June  28,  1822.  This  letter  was  first 
given  publicity  by  Shelby  in  his  Memoir  because  of  the  unwarranted  charge 
brought  by  Judge  Johnson  in  his  biography  of  Greene  (ii,  258)  against  Sevier 
and  Shelby  for  having  "deserted"  Greene. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  47 

Upon  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  Shelby  immediately  com- 
municated its  contents  by  express  to  Sevier,  who  lived  fifty 
miles  away,  and  proposed  a  rendezvous  of  their  men  early  in 
October.  In  making  the  enlistments,  Shelby  assured  the 
volunteers  that  they  should  not  be  absent  from  their  families 
for  more  than  sixty  days. 

I  made  great  exertions,  and  collected  the  men  in  a  few  days  there- 
after, many  of  them  had  not  received  more  than  24  hours  notice  and 
lived  more  than  100  miles  from  the  place  of  rendezvous — but  were 
willing  to  go  as  the  call  was  made  for  a  special  purpose — to  wit, 
to  intercept  Lord  Cornwallis  who  it  was  suspected  would  endeavor  to 
make  good  his  retreat  through  N.  Carolina  to  Charleston  and  Gen. 
Green  thought  and  so  did  I  that  if  we  could  intercept  him,  it  would 
put  an  end  to  the  war  in  the  S.  states.  To  effect  this  important 
object,  the  people  on  the  western  waters  were  induced  to  volunteer 
their  services — it  was  for  this  purpose  that  they  were  prevailed  upon 
to  leave  their  homes  500  miles  from  the  scene  of  operations  to  defend 
a  Maritime  district  of  country  surrounded  with  a  dense  population 
and  in  comparative  quiet,  while  their  own  firesides  were  daily 
menaced  by  the  Chicamauga  Indians,  who  as  you  know  had  declared 
perpetual  war  against  the  whites  and  could  never  be  induced  to 
make  peace.  I  was  far  advanced  on  my  road  when  I  received  vague 
information  of  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  in  Virginia  and  hesitated 
whether  to  proceed.  But  as  the  men  appeared  to  be  willing  to  serve 
out  a  tour  of  duty  which  at  the  time  of  their  entering  the  service  I 
repeatedly  assured  them  should  not  exceed  60  days  absence  from 
their  homes,  I  proceeded  on  more  leisurely  to  Green,  who  observed  to 
me  that  such  a  body  of  horse  could  not  remain  in  the  vicinity  of  his 
camp  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  forage  and  requested  me  to  serve 
out  the  tour  with  Marion,  to  which  I  consented,  however,  with  some 
reluctance  as  the  men  would  be  drawn  70  or  80  miles  further  from 
their  homes.58 

Shelby  quickly  raised  upwards  of  five  hundred  mounted 
riflemen ;  and  Sevier  with  equal  despatch  raised  two  hun- 
dred mounted  riflemen  in  Washington  County.  These  two 
bodies,  totalling  some  seven  hundred,  joined  Marion  at  his 
camp  on  the  Santee.  The  hint  was  given  to  Marion  that  "if 
he  would  keep  them  he  must  keep  them  busy."60 

It  was  with  considerable  reluctance  that  Shelby  and  Sevier 


50Shelby's  Autobiography. 

'•"Greene  Mss.,  cited  in  Greene's  Greene,  iii,  419. 


48  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

consented  to  being  attached  to  Marion's  command.  "Their 
men  were  called  out  upon  a  pressing  emergency  which  no 
longer  existed.  They  had  been,  moreover,  enrolled  only 
sixty  days.  Much  of  that  time  had  already  expired,  and  the 
contemplated  service  under  Marion  would  take  them  still 
further  from  their  distant  homes.  Besides  Shelby  was  a 
member  of  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  from 
Sullivan  County,  and  its  session  at  Salem  took  place  early  in 
December."61 

Almost  at  once  they  were  engaged  in  very  active  service. 
The  account  of  the  ensuing  events  is  contained  in  Shelby's 
Autobiography,  here  reproduced  as  written: 

The  enemies  main  Southern  army,  it  was  said,  lay  at  that  time 
near  a  place  called  Fergusson's  Swamp  on  the  great  road  bearing  di- 
rectly to  Charleston.  Gen'l  Marion  received  information  several 
weaks  after  our  arrival  at  his  camp  that  several  hundred  Hessians 
at  a  British  Post  near  Monk's  Corner,  eight  or  ten  miles  below  the 
enemies  main  army  were  in  a  state  of  mutiny,  and  would  surrender 
the  post  to  any  considerable  American  force  that  might  appear  before 
it ;  and  consulted  his  principal  officers  on  the  propriety  of  surprising 
it,  which  was  soon  determined  on,  and  Shelby  and  Sevier  solicited  a 
command  in  it.  Marion  accordingly  moved  down  eight  or  ten  miles, 
and  crossed  over  to  the  South  side  of  the  Santee  River,  from  whence 
he  made  a  detachment  of  five  or  six  hundred  men  to  surprise  the 
post,  the  command  of  which  was  given  to  Colonel  Mayhem.  The 
detachment  consisted  of  Shelby's  mounted  riflemen  with  Mayhem's 
Dragoons,  about  one  hundred  and  eighty,  and  about  twenty  or  thirty 
lowland  mounted  militia,  the  command  of  the  whole  was  given  to 
Colonel  Mayhem.  They  took  up  their  march  early  in  the  morning, 
and  traveled  fast  through  the  woods  until  late  in  the  evening  of  the 
second  day,  when  they  struck  the  great  road  leading  to  Charleston, 
about  two  miles  below  the  enemy's  post,  which  they  intended  to  sur- 
prise. They  lay  upon  their  arms  all  night  across  the  road  with  a 
design  to  intercept  the  Hessians  in  case  the  enemy  had  got  notice  of 
our  approach  and  had  ordered  them  down  to  Charleston  before  morn- 
ing. In  the  course  of  the  night  which  was  as  dark  as  pitch  an 
orderly  Sergeant  rode  into  the  line  amongst  us,  and  was  taken 
prisoner.  No  material  papers  were  found  upon  him  before  he  made 
his  escape  except  a  pocket  book  which  contained  the  strength  of  the 
enemy's  main  army  and  their  number  then  on  the  sick  list,  which  was 
very  great. 


81Ramsey  :  Annals  of  Tennessee,  254. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  49 

As  soon  as  daylight  appeared,  we  advanced  to  the  British  Post,  and 
arrived  there  before  sunrise.  Col.  Mayhem  sent  in  one  of  his  confi- 
dential officers  with  peremptory  demand  for  a  surrender  of  the  gar- 
rison, who  in  a  few  minutes  returned  and  reported  that  the  officer 
commanding  was  determined  to  defend  the  post  to  the  last  extremity. 
Col.  Shelby  then  proposed  that  he  would  go  in  himself  and  make 
another  effort  to  obtain  a  surrender,  which  Mayhem  readily  con- 
sented to.  Upon  his  approach  he  discovered  a  gap  in  the  Abbaties, 
through  which  he  rode  up  close  to  the  building,  when  an  officer  opened 
one  leaf  of  a  long  folding  door.  Col.  Shelby  addressed  him  in  these 
words,  "Will  you  be  so  mad  as  to  suffer  us  to  storm  your  works,  if 
you  do  rest  assured  that  every  soul  of  you  will  be  put  to  the  sword, 
for  there  was  several  hundred  men  at  hand  that  would  soon  be  in 
with  their  tomahawks  upon  them" ;  he  then  inquired  if  they  had  any 
artillery.  Shelby  replied,  "that  they  had  guns  that  would  blow  them 
to  pieces  in  a  minute."  Upon  which  the  officer  replied,  "I  suppose  I 
must  give  up."  Mayhem  seeing  the  door  thrown  wide  open,  and 
Shelby  ascend  the  high  steps  to  the  door,  immediately  advanced  with 
his  dragoons,  and  formed  on  the  right.  It  was  not  until  this  moment 
we  discovered  another  strong  British  Fort  that  stood  five  or  six  hun- 
dred yards  to  the  East,  and  this  is  the  first  knowledge  we  had  of 
that  post,  the  garrison  of  which  immediately  marched  out,  about  one 
hundred  infantry  and  forty  or  fifty  cavalry  came  around  the  North 
Angle  of  the  fort  all  apparently  with  a  design  to  attack  us;  they 
however  soon  halted  as  we  stood  firm  and  prepared  to  meet  them. 
We  took  a  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners,  all  of  them  able  to  have  fought 
from  the  windows  of  the  house,  or  from  behind  Abbaties.  Ninety 
of  them  were  able  to  stand  a  march  to  Marion's  camp  that  day  which 
was  near  sixty  miles ;  and  we  paroled  the  remainder  most  of  whom 
appeared  to  have  been  sick,  and  unable  to  stand  so  hard  a  march. 
Information  soon  reached  Marion's  camp  that  the  post  had  been 
burnt  down  immediately  on  our  leaving  it ;  but  it  was  always  the 
opinion  of  Col.  Shelby  that  the  enemy  had  abandoned  it,  and  burnt" 
it  themselves,  for  Mayhem  and  Shelby  were  the  two  last  men  that 
left  the  place,  and  at  that  time  there  was  nOt  the  least  sign  of  fire  or 
smoke  about  it.  This  it  is  most  probable  they  would  do,  as  they  had 
previously  destroyed,  and  burned  down  almost  every  building  in  that 
part  of  the  country.  This  post  was  an  immense  brick  building,  calcu- 
lated to  hold  a  thousand  men,  and  said  to  have  been  built  by  Sir 
John  Gollitin  a  century  before  that  period  as  well  for  defense  as 
comfort ;  and  was  well  enclosed  by  a  strong  abbaties.  In  it  were 
found,  besides  the  prisoners  three  or  four  hundred  stand  of  arms, 
and  as  many  new  blankets.  The  American  detachment  left  this  post 
between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  of  the  same  day,  and  arrived  at  Marion's 
camp  the  night  following  at  three  o'clock.  Gen.  Stewart  who  com- 
manded the  Enemy's  main  army,  eight  or  ten  miles  above  made  great 
4 


50  THE  NOBTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

efforts  to  intercept  us  on  our  return.  And  it  was  announced  to 
Marion  before  sunrise  next  morning  that  the  whole  British  army  was 
in  the  old  field  about  three  miles  off  at  the  outer  end  of  the  cause- 
way that  led  into  his  camp.  Shelby  was  immediately  ordered  out 
with  the  mountain  men  to  meet  him  at  the  edge  of  the  swamp,  to 
attack  the  enemy  if  he  attempted  to  advance  and  retreat  at  his  own 
discretion,  to  where  Marion  would  have  his  whole  force  drawn  up  to 
sustain  him  at  an  old  field.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  at  the  edge 
of  the  open  plain,  he  observed  two  British  officers  ride  up  to  a  house 
equidistant  between  the  lines,  after  they  retired  he  rode  to  the 
house  to  know  what  inquiries  they  had  made;  a  man  told  him  that 
they  had  asked  him  when  the  Americans  detachment  had  got  in,  what 
was  their  force,  and  of  what  troops  it  was  composed ;  he  replied  that 
the  detachment  had  come  in  just  before  day,  that  he  had  supposed 
as  they  went  out  they  were  six  or  eight  hundred  strong ;  and  were 
composed  chiefly  of  Shelby's  and  Sevier's  mounted  men,  with  May- 
hem's Dragoons.  The  enemy  then  being  in  the  edge  of  the  woods, 
silently  withdrew  out  of  sight,  and  retreated  back  in  the  utmost 
disorder  and  confusion.  A  small  party  sent  out  to  reconnoiter  the 
enemy,  reported  that  many  of  them  had  thrown  away  their  knap- 
sacks, guns  and  canteens.  A  few  days  afterwards  Gen'l.  Marion  re- 
ceived intelligence  that  the  British  commander  had  retreated  with 
his  whole  force  to  Charleston.  Marion's  sole  design  in  moving  from 
the  camp  when  the  mountain  men  first  joined  him.  and  crossing  the 
Santee  River  below,  was  to  get  within  striking  distance  of  the  be- 
fore mentioned  post,  to  make  the  said  detachment,  and  be  able  to 
protect  and  support  them  on  their  retreat  if  hard  pushed  by  the 
enemy.  After  this  the  enemy  kept  so  within  their  lines  that  little  or 
no  blood  was  spilt,  and  all  active  movements  appearing  to  be  at  an 
end,  Shelby  made  application  to  Gen'l  Marion  for  leave  of  absence  to 
go  to  the  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  of  which  he  was  a  member, 
and  which  was  to  meet  about  that  time  at  Salem,  and  where  he  had 
private  business  of  his  own  of  the  first  importance.  The  mountain 
men  had  then  but  a  day  or  two  to  stay,  to  complete  their  tour  of 
duty,  of  sixty  days,  and  he  verily  believes  that  they  did  serve  it  out, 
as  he  never  heard  to  the  contrary.62 


62In  a  conversation  with  C.  S.  Todd,  May  16,  1826,  Shelby  said  concerning  the 
affair  at  Monk's  Corner  : 

"When  we  arrived  on  parade  with  the  detachment  against  the  British  post 
near  Monk's  Corner,  I  did  not  know  who  was  to  command  but  I  expected  I  was — 
as  I  had  been  informed  that  Marion  was  only  a  Lt.-Col.  When  I  understood  the 
command  had  been  assigned  to  Marion  I  made  objections  and  refused  to  march, 
as  I  was  the  superior  officer.  The  detachment  stood  still  until  Marion  himself 
came  from  a  distance  of  one-half  mile  who  entreated  me  in  the  most  friendly 
language  to  yield  to  the  arrangement  he  had  made.  That  Marion  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  country  through  which  we  were  to  pass  and  with  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  the  post  we  were  to  attack.  I  submitted  to  his 
request  because  I  was  to  stay  but  a  short  time  in  camp  and  I  thought  Marion  to 
be  much  of  a  gentleman  and  so  he  treated  me.  Indeed,  throughout  the  expedi- 
tion he  gave  me  no  orders  but  consulted  me  on  all  occasions.  These  mountain- 
eers were  poor  men  who  lived  by  keeping  stock  in  the  range  beyond  the  moun- 
tains, they  were  volunteers  and  neither  expected  nor  received  any  compensation 


ISAAC    SHELBY  51 

XII 

On  November  25,  having  virtually  filled  out  their  term  of 
enlistment,  the  mountaineers  set  off  homeward  in  a  deep 
snow.  About  November  28th,  Shelby  applied  to  Marion  for 
leave  of  absence  to  attend  the  session  of  the  Assembly  of 
North  Carolina,  which  was  to  meet  at  the  Moravian  Town 
(Salem).  Shelby  had  been  elected  a  member  of  the  legis- 
lature from  Sullivan  County  and  was  charged  with  a  "Memo- 
rial to  be  laid  before  that  body  in  relation  to  a  subject  of 
deep  importance."  According  to  Shelby's  own  statement, 
General  Marion  "readily  granted  my  request  and  addressed 
a  letter  by  me  to  General  Green  which  I  was  permitted  to  see 
directed  to  him  at  the  High  Hills  of  Santee  where  he  ex- 
pected General  Green  was  still  encamped.  In  this  letter  I 
have  a  distinct  recollection  that  he  spoke  in  the  highest  terms 
of  the  conduct  of  the  mountaineers  and  gave  me  my  full  share 
of  the  credit  for  the  capture  of  the  British  Post."63 

Shelby  attended  the  North  Carolina  Assembly  at  Salem  in 
December,  1781,  which  adjourned  without  action.  On  re- 
turning to  Holston,  as  stated  by  Draper,  Shelby  "was  engaged 
during  the  spring  in  preparing  for  an  expedition  against  the 
Chickamauga  band  of  Cherokees,  and  the  hostile  Creeks  at 
the  sources  of  the  Mobile,  in  which  enterprise  he  was  to  have 
been  joined  by  two  hundred  men  from  Washington  County, 
Virginia;  but  on  account  of  the  poverty  of  that  State,  the 
authorities  discouraged  the  scheme,  and  reaching  Big  Creek, 
thirty  miles  below  Long  Island  of  Holston,  the  expedition  was 
relinquished."64  Having  again  been  elected  a  member  of  the 
North   Carolina  Assembly,    Shelby  attended  the  session   at 


^Shelby's  statements  effectually  dispose  of  Judge  Johnson's  malicious  charges 
{Greene,  ii,  258ff),  repeated  by  G.  W.  Greene  (Greene,  iii,  419).  The  whole 
matter  has  been  thoroughly  traversed  by  Ramsey  in  his  Annals  of  Tennessee 
(1853  edn.)    253-261#. 

84In  this  connection,  cf.  N.  C.  State  Records,  xvi,  696-7-8,  for  plans  for  the 
expedition. 

except  liquidated  certificates  worth  2S.  in  the  pound.  Gen.  Greene  had  no  right 
nor  ought  to  have  expected  to  command  their  services.  For  myself  for  the  whole 
services  of  1780  and  1781  both  in  camp  and  in  the  assembly  I  received  a  liquida- 
tion certificate  which  my  agent  in  that  county  after  my  removal  to  Kentucky 
sold  for  six  yards  of  Middling  Broadcloth  and  I  gave  one  coat  of  it  to  the  person 
who  brought  it  out  to  me — indeed  I  was  proud  of  receiving  that." 


52  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Hillsborough  in  April,  1782.65  At  this  session  he  took  an 
active  part  in  the  proceedings,  and  was  engaged  busily  on 
important  committees.  At  this  session  was  passed  the  liberal 
"Act  for  the  relief  of  the  Officers  and  Soldiers  in  the  Conti- 
nental line,  etc.,"  rewarding  the  revolutionary  soldiers  for 
their  patriotic  services — to  every  soldier  who  should  continue 
in  the  ranks  until  the  end  of  the  war  640  acres  of  land;  to 
every  officer  a  larger  quantity  according  to  his  rank,  a  colonel 
receiving  7,200  and  a  brigadier  12,000  acres;  and  to  General 
Greene  25,000  acres.  Section  VIII  of  this  act  reads  as  fol- 
lows: 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  Absalom  Tatom,  Isaac  Shelby,  and 
Anthony  Bledsoe,  Esquires,  or  any  two  of  them,  are  appointed  com- 
missioners in  behalf  of  the  State,  to  examine  and  superintend  the 
laying  off  the  laud  in  one  or  more  tracts  allotted  to  the  officers  and 
soldiers,  and  they  shall  be  accompanied  by  one  or  more  agents,  whom 
the  officers  may  appoint,  to  assist  in  the  business ;  and  in  case  any 
commissioner  so  appointed  shall  die,  or  refuse  to  act  his  Excellency 
the  Governor  shall  fill  up  the  vacancy.86 

Full  instructions  were  given  the  commissioners  by  Governor 
Alexander  Martin,67  and,  accompanied  by  a  guard  of  one 
hundred  men,  they  arrived  at  ISTashborough  and  the  Cumber- 
land in  January,  1783.  Under  the  provisions  of  the  act 
above,  the  commissioners  were  instructed  to  settle  the  pre- 
emption claims  of  those  who  had  settled  on  the  Cumberland 
River  prior  to  June  1,  1780.  Under  conditions  of  grave 
danger  from  the  Indians,  who  killed  various  members  of  the 
Cumberland  settlements,  including  one  of  their  own  party, 
the  commissioners  satisfactorily  concluded  their  task  in  the 
early  spring  of  1783. 6S  Their  visit  marks  the  beginning  of 
prosperity  and  moderate  security  from  the  Indians,  for  the 
exposed  settlements  along  the  Cumberland. 


^Cf.  N.  C.  State  Records,  xvi,  68,  101,  109,  128,  passim.  For  a  long  and 
laborious,  yet  imperfect  sketch  of  Isaac  Shelby,  compare  National  Portrait  Gal- 
lery, i  (1834).  This  sketch,  by  his  son-in-law,  Charles  Stewart  Todd,  once 
Minister  to  Russia,  is  reproduced,  with  a  number  of  alterations,  in  G.  W.  Grif- 
fin's Memoir  of  Col.  Chas.  S.  Todd   (1873),  157-174. 

^State  Records  of  N.  C,  xxiv,  421. 

mN.  C.  State  Records,  xvi,  713  ;  Martin  to  the  Commissioners. 

^Putnam  :  History  of  Middle  Tennessee,  162-3,  172,  177,  contains  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  work  of  the  commissioners. 


ISAAC    SHELBY  53 

On  January  13,  1783,  Isaac  Shelby,  Joseph  Martin,  and 
John  Donelson  were  appointed  commissioners  on  behalf  of 
the  State  of  Virginia  to  treat  with  the  Cherokees,  Creeks  and 
Chickasaws  for  peace.  Shelby  did  not  attend  the  treaties 
subsequently  held  with  the  Chickamaugas  at  the  Long  Island 
of  Holston  on  July  9,  1783 ;  and  with  the  Chickasaws  at  the 
French  Lick  on  November  5  and  6,  1783.69 

In  fact,  more  important  business  now  occupied  his  atten- 
tion ;  for  in  April  he  was  married  to  the  young  woman  whom 
he  had  long  loved — Susanna  Hart.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Colonel  Nathaniel  Hart  of  North  Carolina,  a  prominent- 
member  of  the  Transylvania  Company.  Isaac  Shelby  courted 
his  sweetheart  at  the  famous  fort  of  Boonesborough,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  which  her  father  had  been  slain  by  the 
Indians  the  preceding  year.70  No  doubt  he  wore  at  the  time 
that  memorable  "suit  of  middling  broadcloth,"  which  was  his 
recompense  for  his  service  to  his  country  in  the  King's  Moun- 
tain campaign.  In  the  union  of  the  names  of  Hart  and 
Shelby,  and  in  the  associations  which  cluster  about  them,  may 
be  recognized  a  living  symbol  of  the  greatness  of  Kentucky 
for  more  than  a  century  and  a  quarter. 

The  marriage,  appropriately  solemnized  as  the  Revolu- 
tion came  to  a  triumphant  close,  marks  the  end  of  the  era. 
Of  Shelby's  future  career — as  first  Governor  of  the  Common- 
wealth, general,  eminent  citizen — a  new  study  must  be  pro- 
jected.71 A  fitting  summary  of  the  virtues  of  this  distin- 
guished American,  whose  honored  name  is  forever  linked  with 
the  history  of  North  Carolina,  Virginia,  Tennessee,  and 
Kentucky,  and  the  nation,  is  contained  in  these  words  of 
Governor  James  T.  Morehead,  in  his  address  at  Boonesbor- 
ough (May  25,  1840)  : 

"Great  men,"  said  Mr.  Burke,  "are  the  guide  posts  and  landmarks 
in  the  State."    The  life  of  Isaac  Shelby  is  a  signal  example  of  un- 


8eWeeks  :  Joseph  Martin,  435-6. 

70Cf.  Mrs.  Ellet's  Pioneer  Women  of  the  West,  19-22,  in  sketch  of  Mary  Bled- 
soe ;  Address  of  George  Blackburn  Kinkead,  delivered  at  Boonsborough  Fort, 
Oct.  5,  1907  ;  Taylor's  Historic  Sullivan,  36-7. 

71In  this  connection  compare  the  address  of  Mrs.  Mary  Shelby  Wilson  at  the 
unveiling  and  presentation  to  Memorial  Continental  Hall  of  the  marble  bust  of 
Isaac  Shelby,  April  19,  1811. 


54  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

blemished  personal  integrity  and  enlarged  public  usefulness,  which 
may  be  safely  imitated  by  all  those  who  aspire  to  become  bene- 
factors of  their  country.  Starting  into  active  life  without  the  aid  of 
fortune  or  education,  he  pursued  the  gradations  of  military  rank 
from  the  lieutenancy  of  a  militia  company  to  the  command  of  a  regi- 
ment— he  rose  from  the  humble  station  of  a  surveyor  among  the 
pioneers  to  the  governorship  of  a  great  Commonwealth — and  was 
distinguished  in  all  the  posts  to  which  he  was  called.  His  mind  like 
his  body  was  strong  and  vigorous :  boldness,  energy,  decision,  were 
its  leading  characteristics.  Capable  of  thinking  for  himself,  he  in- 
vestigated every  important  subject  that  came  within  the  range  of  his 
private  or  public  duties,  with  candor  and  deliberation ;  and  having 
formed  his  opinions,  he  followed  them  with  unshaken  firmness.  He 
spoke  and  wrote  as  he  thought — with  great  force  and  vigor —  always 
expressing  his  opinions  with  manly  frankness,  and  a  lofty  disdain 
of  personal  consequences.  His  manners — derived  from  the  school  in 
which  he  was  brought  up — were  plain  and  simple,  and  commanded, 
without  any  affectation  of  dignity,  the  universal  deference  of  his 
associates.  He  was  sincere  but  not  profuse  in  his  professions  of 
attachment— faithful  and  steadfast  to  his  friends  when  those  attach- 
ments were  once  formed.  Elevating  himself  in  the  discharge  of  his 
official  duties  above  the  influence  of  private  considerations,  he  sought 
and  rewarded  merit  for  his  country's  sake.  If  such  was  his  character 
as  a  public  man,  he  maintained  all  the  relations  of  life  with  equal 
credit  and  success. x, 


ISAAC    SHELBY  55 


APPENDIX 

The  present  research,  dealing  with  the  career  of  Isaac  Shelby  down 
to  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  is  a  fragment  of  a  larger  study,  a 
detailed  biography.  In  the  preparation  of  these  two  papers,  I  have 
been  materially  assisted  by  my  friend,  Judge  Samuel  M.  Wilson,  of 
Lexington,  Kentucky.  He  has  placed  at  my  disposal  original  and  un- 
published material,  as  well  as  interesting  contributions  to  the  history 
of  Kentucky  and  the  West  which  have  remained  hidden  in  inaccessi- 
ble publications.  I  am  also  indebted  to  Mr.  William  R.  Shelby  of 
Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  and  to  Colonel  Samuel  King  of  Bristol, 
Tennessee-Virginia,  for  transcripts  of  valuable  documents  throwing 
light  upon  Shelby's  career. 

There  are  a  few  statements  to  be  made  here,  which  are  the  results 
of  more  intensive  study  and  purport  either  to  correct  or  to  modify 
statements  already  made. 

In  regard  to  the  parents  of  General  Evan  Shelby,  to  wit :  Evan 
Shelby,  Sr.,  and  Catherine  Davies.  it  is  certain  that  they  were 
natives  of  Wales,  with  a  large  percentage  of  Welsh  blood.  Evan  and 
Davies  are  characteristic  Welsh  names.  Those  best  informed  in 
regard  to  the  family's  early  history,  however,  believe  that  the  name 
was  originally  Selby,  and  that  the  Shelbys  were  of  English  extrac- 
tion. 

The  records  at  Upper  Marlboro,  the  county  seat  of  Prince  George's 
County,  Maryland,  reveal  many  transactions  in  which  the  Shelbys 
figure  as  residents  of  said  county  prior  to  the  creation  of  Frederick 
County  (not  carved  out  of  Prince  George's  County  until  1748).  It 
is  probable  that  the  immigrant  ancestors  of  the  Shelby  family  settled 
in  Maryland  nearer  1730  than  1735.  Ultimately,  by  the  formation  of 
Washington  County,  the  residence  of  Evan  Shelby,  near  the  North 
Mountain,  was  found  to  be  in  Washington  County.  (See  Part  I, 
109-110. ) 

The  earliest  surveys  and  grants  to  Evan  Shelby,  Senior  and  Junior, 
make  it  reasonably  certain  that  the  Shelbys  resided  continuously  in 
Maryland  from  1739  or  earlier  to  1771  or  1772.  In  particular,  see 
Scharf 's  History  of  Western  Maryland,  ii,  982-6.     ( See  Part  I,  112-3. ) 

Isaac  Shelby's  mother  was  Letitia  Cox  (correctly  given  in  Part  I, 
p.  114,  inadvertently  given  as  "Scott"  on  p.  113).  There  is  strong  docu- 
mentary evidence  that  she  was  born,  not  in  Frederick  Town,  but 
somewhere  in  Prince  George's  County,  Maryland.  She  was  married 
to  Evan  Shelby  probably  in  August,  1744. 

Isaac  Shelby  was  not  the  eldest  son  of  Evan  Shelby,  being  the 
second  son  and  third  child.  Susannah  Shelby,  born  about  1746,  was 
the  first  born  child  and  John  Shelby,  born  about  1748,  was  the 
second  child  and  eldest  son.     Evan  Shelby  brought  to  Virginia  five 


56  THE  NOETH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

sons :  John,  Isaac,  Evan,  Moses  and  James.  A  younger  daughter, 
Catherine,  was  married  to  Captain  James  Thompson.     (Part  I,  113.) 

Within  recent  years  the  remains  of  General  Evan  Shelby  have  been 
removed  from  his  original  grave  and  re-interred  in  East  View  Ceme- 
tery, Bristol.     (Part  I,  114.) 

In  Part  I,  133,  twelfth  line  from  bottom  should  read  (in  part)  : 
"...     it  was  not  supposed     .     .     ." 

In  Part  I,  134,  the  last  two  lines  should  read :  "opened  at  St. 
Asaph's  on  October  13,  1779 ;  and  again  at  St.  Asaph's,  on  April  26, 
1780,  after  various  sessions  at  Harrodsburg  and  elsewhere,  the  court 
announced  that  its." 

In  Part  I,  135,  line  11,  "1778"  is  a  misprint  for  "1776." 

There  is  good  x*eason  to  believe  that  the  "Captain  I.  Shelby"  re- 
ferred to  in  Clark's  Memoir,  is  not  Isaac,  but  James  Shelby.  The 
"J"  was  misread  "I."  At  this  time,  Isaac  Shelby  was  a  Major,  under 
commission  from  Governor  Jefferson  of  Virginia.  It  is  uncertain 
whether  this  James  Shelby  was  a  brother  or  a  cousin  of  Isaac  Shelby. 
(Part  I,  136.) 

In  Part  I,  141,  foot-note  49,  line  2,  "eighty-three"  is  a  misprint  for 
"sixty-three." 


JSTEGEO    SOLDIERS  57 

NEGRO  SOLDIERS 

By  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark 

In  view  of  the  enlistment  of  negroes  as  soldiers  in  the  pres- 
ent war,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  note  the  part  that  they  have 
taken  as  soldiers  in  our  previous  wars. 

In  the  Revolutionary  War  there  was  no  small  number  of 
negroes  who  served  as  soldiers.  These  were  mostly  free  ne- 
groes, but  no  small  part  of  them  were  slaves,  who  served, 
usually,  but  not  always,  as  substitutes  for  their  owners  under 
promise  of  freedom  at  the  end  of  the  war.  This  promise  was 
usually  kept,  but  not  always.  An  act  of  the  Virginia  Legis- 
lature passed  in  1783,  recites  that  every  slave  who  had 
enlisted  upon  the  faith  of  a  promise  of  freedom  from  his 
master  should  be  declared  free  accordingly,  and  directed  the 
Attorney-General  of  that  State  to  institute  proceedings  in  all 
cases  where  the  promise  had  not  been  complied  with,  and 
that  the  court  on  proof,  should  enter  a  decree  of  emancipation. 
It  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  that  State  that  such  act  should 
have  been  passed. 

In  North  Carolina  it  does  not  appear  that  such  act  was 
necessary,  however,  as  the  only  statute  is  one  enfranchising  a 
certain  negro,  ISTed  Griffin,  of  Edgecombe,  whose  master, 
William  Kitchen,  had  promised  him  his  liberty  on  condition 
of  service  in  the  Continental  line  of  this  State  for  twelve 
months,  which  he  had  done,  and  the  act  declared  him  a  free 
man.  Laws  1784,  ch.  70.  Laws  1779,  ch.  12,  validated  the 
freedom  of  all  slaves  who  had  served  in  the  army  under  the 
promise  of  being  free. 

These  negroes,  whether  freemen,  or  slaves,  enlisting  under 
a  promise  of  freedom,  did  not  serve  in  separate  organiza- 
tions, but  in  the  ranks  with  the  white  soldiers.  This  appears 
in  the  diary  of  Hugh  McDonald  of  this  State,  and  also  in 
other  memoirs  and  diaries  of  those  times. 

In  the  first  collision  between  the  Americans  and  the  British 
soldiers  in  Boston  the  leader  of  the  popular  revolt  was  Crispus 


58  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Attucks,  a  free  negro,  who  was  killed  by  the  soldiers,  and 
whose  statue  today  stands  on  the  Boston  Commons. 

At  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  Peter  Salem,  a  negro  slave 
who  had  volunteered  on  promise  of  freedom,  behaved  with 
conspicuous  courage,  and  it  was  he  who  shot  Major  Pitcairn 
in  reply  to  a  summons  to  surrender.  Bancroft  says  that  "In 
the  forces  under  Washington  the  free  negroes  had  representa- 
tives in  various  companies  and  regiments,  and  their  names 
are  preserved  on  the  pension  list  of  the  nation."  At  that 
time  slavery  existed  in  all  the  Colonies  and,  the  draft  laws 
covering  only  "free  persons,"  no  slaves  were  drawn  except 
those  who  went  on  promise  of  freedom  or  as  substitutes  for 
their  masters.  These  served  usually  in  the  ranks  with  the 
other  soldiers,  but  it  is  recorded  that  Major  Samuel  Lawrence 
of  Groton,  Mass.,  raised  a  command  composed  entirely  of 
free  negroes.  The  Continental  Congress  passed  an  act  for- 
bidding the  acceptance  or  retention  of  such  as  were  "still  held 
in  bondage,"  and  thereupon  the  practice  obtained  of  confer- 
ring freedom  upon  those  slaves  who  served  as  substitutes  for 
their  masters,  or  voluntarily. 

Mr.  Rutledge  of  South  Carolina,  on  one  occasion  moved 
Congress  that  "all  negroes  be  dismissed  from  the  Continental 
armies."  This  was  overwhelmingly  defeated  and,  when  later, 
Congress  issued  an  order  directing  that  negro  soldiers  who 
were  slaves  should  be  rejected,  General  Washington  replied 
that  the  negroes  "are  very  much  dissatisfied  at  being  dis- 
carded, and,  as  it  is  apprehended  that  refusal  to  use  them 
may  induce  them  to  seek  employment  from  the  enemy,  I  have 
taken  the  liberty  to  suspend  your  resolution  concerning  them." 
Congress  thereupon  reconsidered  and  repealed  the  resolution. 

After  the  battle  of  Monmouth  Washington's  army  returns 
showed  755  colored  soldiers  present  for  duty,  being  about  a 
tenth  of  the  army.  In  1778  Rhode  Island  passed  an  act 
enlisting  all  men  of  color  of  the  draft  age  with  a  provision 
that  those  who  were  slaves  should  be  free  from  the  time  of 
joining.     This    was    followed   by    Massachusetts    and    New 


NEGEO    SOLDIEES  59 

York.  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  the  British  Commander-in-Chief, 
issued  a  proclamation  offering  bounties  to  all  negroes  who 
would  desert  to  his  standard,  which  was  also  done  by  Corn- 
wallis  and  Tarleton  in  the  South.  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  that 
this  action  had  cost  Virginia  30,000  able  bodied  slaves  in  one 
year.  To  meet  the  British  offer,  Madison,  Generals  Greene 
and  Lincoln,  and  other  leading  patriots  advocated  a  general 
recruiting  of  the  Continental  forces  by  offering  emancipation 
to  the  slaves.  This  was  not,  however,  generally  done,  but 
there  was  a  considerable  number  of  slaves  who  obtained  free- 
dom by  serving  as  substitutes  for  their  owners  or  their  sons 
in  the  army. 

In  the  War  of  1812  there  were  a  great  many  colored  men 
who  served  in  the  ranks,  thruout  the  country,  but  there  is  no 
available  record  that  at  that  time  any  slaves  in  the  South 
were  admitted  as  substitutes  or  otherwise  on  condition  of  free- 
dom. There  were  a  good  many  who  went  over  to  the  enemy 
on  condition  of  freedom,  and  two  battalions  of  negroes  served 
at  New  Orleans  under  Jackson.  In  New  York  two  regi- 
ments of  "freemen  of  color"  were  raised  to  receive  the 
same  pay  and  allowance  as  whites,  and  there  was  a  proviso 
that  "any  able  bodied  slave"  in  that  State  might  enlist  "'with 
the  written  assent  of  his  master  and  mistress  who  were  to 
receive  his  pay,"  while  the  negro  was  to  be  set  free  on  his 
honorable  discharge.  After  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  Gen- 
eral Andrew  Jackson,  in  his  proclamation,  bore  emphatic  tes- 
timony to  the  part  borne  by  negro  troops  in  that  great  vic- 
tory and  their  bravery  and  good  conduct  during  their  service 
under  him.  The  British  had  two  regiments  of  West  India 
negroes  in  that  battle. 

During  the  Civil  War  180,000  negroes  served  in  the  Union 
Army.  Some  of  these  were  from  the  North,  and  served  either 
under  the  draft  or  as  volunteers,  but  by  far  the  greatest  part 
of  them  were  fugitive  slaves  who  served  in  northern  regi- 
ments, either  as  substitutes,  or  upon  payment  of  bounties  given 


60  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

by  townships  and  counties  in  the  North  to  fill  up  their  re- 
quired quotas  under  the  draft. 

The  Confederate  government  was  asked  by  General  Lee 
in  the  fall  of  1864  to  conscript  slaves  as  soldiers,  offering  them 
freedom,  but  this  was  opposed  by  President  Davis  and  others, 
and  the  act  did  not  pass  till  February,  1865,  and  only  a  few 
companies  were  raised.  We  often  conscripted  free  negroes, 
and  sometimes  slaves,  to  build  forts  and  breastworks.  Those 
surrounding  Raleigh  were  thus  built. 

It  is  believed  that  with  very  rare  exceptions  the  colored 
Union  troops  in  the  Civil  War  served  as  separate  organiza- 
tions, as  now,  tho  officered  by  white  men.  This  was  true  dur- 
ing our  Spanish  War  in  1898.  This  State,  however,  which 
sent  two  regiments  of  white  soldiers  to  that  war,  sent  one 
regiment  of  colored  troops,  officered  entirely  by  colored  offi- 
cers, from  its  Colonel,  James  H.  Young,  down. 

In  the  United  States  Regular  Army,  ever  since  the  Civil 
War,  there  has  been  several  regiments  of  colored  troops,  but 
these  have  been  officered  entirely  by  white  men,  as  only  one 
colored  man  has  ever  graduated  at  West  Point. 

In  the  present  war  there  are  probably  200,000  colored 
troops  in  the  United  States  Army,  most  of  whom  have  white 
officers,  tho  there  are  some  company  officers  of  color.  The 
British  and  French  have  many  colored  troops,  of  whom  the 
Senegalese  are  exceptionally  brave.  It  is  related  that  when 
some  American  colored  troops  landed  at  a  French  port  they 
were  delighted  to  see  colored  troops  ashore,  and  commenced 
talking  to  them  in  English,  supposing  that  all  negroes  spoke 
our  tongue.  They  proved,  however,  to  be  troops  from  French 
Africa. 

The  conduct  of  the  negro  troops  has  generally  been  good  in 
peace,  as  well  as  in  war.  There  was  a  painful  exception  in 
the  emeute  at  Brownsville,  Texas,  some  years  ago,  and  also  in 
the  recent  riot  in  a  colored  regiment  at  San  Antonio,  for 
which  some  thirty  or  forty  of  the  colored  soldiers  were  hanged 


NEGRO    SOLDIERS  61 

by  the  government  for  mutiny.  It  seems  that  on  both  occa- 
sions whiskey  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  trouble. 

The  history  of  our  wars  shows  that  colored  men,  when 
well  led  by  competent  officers,  have  always  shown  up  as  brave 
soldiers.  The  two  instances  named  of  misconduct  seem  to  be 
exceptions  to  their  general  good  conduct  and  orderly  behavior 
in  time  of  peace. 

What  is  said  above  refers  only  to  colored  slaves.  Those 
acquainted  with  our  Colonial  history  know,  however,  that 
there  were  many  Indian  slaves  in  the  Colonies,  especially  in 
New  England,  and  some  of  them  in  North  Carolina,  and  not 
a  few  white  slaves.  The  latter  were  usually  sent  to  this 
country  from  Great  Britain  to  serve  out  a  sentence  for  crime 
and  sometimes  for  debt.  Among  these  white  slaves  was  the 
Lieutenant  Colonel  of  a  North  Carolina  regiment,  who  on 
his  march  to  Germantown,  with  his  regiment  in  1777  was 
humiliated  by  being  recognized  and  claimed  in  Maryland  as 
a  slave,  he  having  escaped  thence  to  North  Carolina  where  he 
had  served  an  honorable  career  and  risen  in  life.  Massachu- 
setts sold  most  of  her  Indian  slaves  in  the  West  Indies,  bring- 
ing in  return  cargoes  from  Guinea  of  Africans,  who  they  said 
were  better  adapted  for  work.  Among  those  who,  after  the 
Pequot  War,  Massachusetts  sold  to  the  West  Indies,  were  the 
wife  and  son  of  King  Philip,  the  former  being  the  daughter 
of  Massasoit,  who  had  been  the  best  friend  whom  the  Colonists 
of  that  Province  had  ever  had,  and  who  had  rendered  the 
whites  notable  service. 

Probably  the  most  distinguished  colored  soldier  was  Gen- 
eral Thomas  Alexandre  Dumas  who  served  under  Napoleon, 
and  at  one  time  was  commander  in  chief  of  the  army  of  the 
Eastern  Pyrenees.  He  was  the  son  af  a  West  India  negro 
mother,  and  to  his  son  Alexandre  Dumas  the  elder,  the 
famous  novelist,  we  are  indebted  for  the  famous  novels  "Monte 
Cristo,"  the  "Three  Muskeeters,"  with  its  famous  trio  Por- 
thos,  Athos,  and  Aramis,  and  the  greatest  of  all  D'Artagnan, 


62  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

"The  Forty-five  Guardsmen,"  and  others.     Hannibal  and  his 
Carthaginians  were  not  negroes,  though  from  Africa. 

The  free  negroes  voted  in  North  Carolina  till  1835,  and 
under  the  Federal  Constitution  three-fifths  of  the  slave  popu- 
lation was  taken  as  a  basis  in  the  apportionment  for  members 
of  Congress.  Republican  disgust  at  finding  that  by  emanci- 
pation, which  made  negroes  freemen,  the  basis  was  changed 
and  twenty  new  members  of  Congress  had  been  given  to  the 
South,  is  said  to  have  been  a  strong  motive  for  passing  the 
XV  Amendment. 


north  Carolina's  dead  63 


NORTH  CAROLINA'S  DEAD 

At  the  unveiling  of  the  monument  and  statue  to  the  Con- 
federate dead  at  Morgantom  22  January,  1918,  the  address 
was  delivered  by  Chief  Justice  Clark.  The  following  extract 
from  his  speech  is  of  more  than  passing  interest : 

As  against  2,850,000  men  in  the  Union  line,  the  South,  first  and  last, 
was  able  to  send  to  the  front  about  650,000.  Of  these  North  Carolina 
sent  125,000,  or  nearly  one-fifth  of  the  whole  number.  Of  these, 
43,000  of  our  best  and  bravest,  being  one-third,  came  not  home  again. 

They  sleep  where  the  silver  Shenandoah  sweeps  along ;  some  rest 
on  the  heights  at  Gettysburg ;  some  sleep  by  the  sounding  sea  at 
Charleston;  others  at  Vicksburg, 

"By  the  great  inland  river,  whence  the  fleets  of  iron  have  fled, 
And  the  green  grass  quivers  above  the  ranks  of  the  dead" ; 

on  the  plains  of  Chickamauga  and  where  the  Georgian  pines  are  bare ; 
around  Petersburg,  in  the  swamps  of  the  Chickahominy  and  where 
Potomac's  "breezes  answering  low  sooth  many  a  soldier's  endless 
sleep." 

Across  the  fields  of  yesterday  they  come  back  to  us,  as  we  knew 
and  remember  them,  in  all  the  splendor  of  their  young  manhood.  Age 
has  not  withered  them.  Time  and  trouble  have  not  touched  them. 
The  Roman  poet  said  that  it  was  "sweet  to  die  for  one's  country." 
It  was  glorious  for  them  to  pass  in  the  prime  of  their  powers,  with 
the  sunlight  of  victory  on  their  faces  and  fronting  the  morning. 
They  died  in  the  full  assurance  and  confident  hope  of  our  ultimate 
success.  They  saw  not  the  torn  and  tattered  battle  flags  furled  for- 
ever at  Appomattox.  The  bugle  did  not  ring  out  for  them,  as  for 
you,  the  final  call  to  stack  arms.  No  drums  beat  for  them  the 
retreat.  Their  ears  caught  only  the  sound  of  the  reveille.  They  live 
in  immortal  youth. 


64  THE  NOETH  CAKOLINA  BOOKLET 

OTHER  NORTH  CAROLINA  HEROINES 

By  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton 

During  these  exciting  and  troublous  times  of  the  world's 
existence  when  woman  is  constantly  engaged  in  the  service  of 
her  country,  helping  in  ways  heretofore  unknown,  giving 
freely  of  her  time  in  unstinted  service  and  keeping  her  purse 
ever  open,  it  will  be  interesting,  perhaps,  to  look  backward 
thru  the  pages  of  history  and  gather  notes  of  the  spirit  of 
patriotism  and  heroism  of  our  brave  and  loyal  women  patriots, 
whose  deeds  have  been  recorded,  and  whose  sufferings  show 
what  our  foremothers  endured,  that  they  may  inspire  us  to 
bear  nobly  whatever  trials  may  be  in  store.  While  they  were 
subjected  to  innumerable  privations  their  lot  seems  incom- 
parable with  the  barbarities  imposed  by  "the  fiery  Hun"  upon 
the  weaker  population  of  grief-stricken  Belgium  and  the 
devastated  regions  of  Northern  France  and  Poland.  It  was 
with  the  British  and  Tories  we  were  waging  a  civilized  war, 
not  barbarians  whose  hearts  hesitate  at  no  cruelties.  That 
struggle  for  independence  fortunately  took  place  one  hundred 
and  forty-eight  years  ago,  during  which  period  the  United 
States  of  America  have  developed  into  one  of  the  leading 
world  powers,  whereby  she  is  now  able  to  express  to  her  splen- 
did ally — France — the  gratitude  of  an  appreciative  people 
and  to  render  to  her  mother  country  the  duty  of  a  worthy 
offspring. 

North  Carolina's  record  of  her  heroic  women  is  indeed 
meager,  and  many  of  her  heroines  are  known  by  name  only 
with  sparse  local  tradition  as  proof  their  bravery.  Of  quite 
a  number  just  one  brave  incident  can  be  cited,  which  can  be 
accepted  as  indicative  of  their  conduct  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  Among  the  latter  can  be  found  the  names  of 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Forbis,  Mrs.  Mary  Morgan,  Mrs.  Rachel 
Denny,  Mrs.  Sarah  Logan,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  McGraw,  Miss 
Ann  Fergus,  Mrs.  Margaret  Caruthers  and  Miss  Margaret 
McBride. 


OTHER    NOETH    CAROLINA    HEROINES  65 

Caruthers,  in  The  Old  North  State  in  1776,  has  preserved 
their  records  from  oblivion,  but  since  that  rare  volume  has 
long  since  been  out  of  print  and  few  copies  are  to  be  found,  to 
give  these  noble  women  further  recognition,  this  brief  sketch 
is  presented  thru  the  columns  of  The  Booklet. 

Among  the  staunch  and  brave  patriots  who  were  mortally 
wounded  at  the  Battle  of  Guilford  Court  House  was  Colonel 
Arthur  Forbis.  In  that  same  engagement,  under  his  com- 
mand, was  his  brother-in-law,  Thomas  Wiley,  also  a  brave, 
unwavering  Whig,  who  was  wounded.  Possessing  similar 
loyalty  to  the  patriotic  cause,  Elizabeth  Forbis,  nee  Wiley  T 
wife  of  Colonel  Forbis,  bore  with  fortitude  and  patience  her 
severe  and  continued  trials  and  sufferings.  Coming  from 
such  stock,  it  is  no  marvel  that  she  displayed  unusual  traits 
of  character,  of  which  the  following  is  illustrative. 

Several  days  after  the  Battle  of  Guilford  Court  House 
Thomas  Morgan,  who  lived  a  mile  and  a  half  west  of  the 
Forbis  home,  found  wandering  on  his  premises  two  horses 
whose  "bobbed  tails"  showed  that  they  were  the  property  of 
the  British  and  Tories,  since  the  horses  of  the  American  cav- 
alry were  distinguished  from  that  of  the  enemy  by  having 
long  tails.  These  he  felt  he  had  a  right  to  appropriate,  for 
the  British  and  Tories  had  seized  all  available  property  of 
the  Whigs. 

Mr.  Morgan,  knowing  that  Mrs.  Forbis  was  now  in  dire 
need  of  a  horse  and  in  a  destitute  condition,  presented  her 
with  one  the  morning  following.  Colonel  Forbis  was  either 
dead  or  dying  of  his  wounds ;  the  Tories  had  cleared  the  plan- 
tation of  almost  all  cattle,  provisions,  grain,  etc. ;  her  eldest 
boy  was  a  mere  lad  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  and  could 
only  plough  a  gentle  animal,  her  sole  means  of  making  a  crop. 
This  gift  she  accepted  thankfully  and  immediately  put  her 
son  to  the  plough  handle.  However,  on  the  next  day  as  he 
was  turning  furrows  in  a  corn  field  and  the  mother  was  drop- 
ping corn  after  the  plough  and  covering  it  with  a  hoe,  two 


QQ  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

young  men  appeared  on  the  scene  and  demanded  the  return 
of  the  horse  then  in  the  plough,  one  claiming  it  was  his  own. 
Mrs.  Forbis  did  not  dream  the  men  were  from  the  British 
Army,  then  thirty  or  forty  miles  south  of  that  locality  on  the 
way  to  Wilmington.  With  this  demand  she  flatly  refused  to 
comply.  It  was  repeated  two  or  three  times,  she  still  refus- 
ing to  obey,  when  he  ordered  the  lad  to  take  the  horse  from 
the  plough.  She  forbade  her  son  to  do  so,  he  standing  reso- 
lute, looking  from  her  to  the  enemy,  respecting  the  one  and 
fearing  the  other,  but  obeying  the  mother.  Thereupon  the 
man  stepped  forward  to  unfasten  the  traces  himself,  and 
instantly  she  sprang  in  front  of  him,  with  a  hoe  raised  high 
above  her  head,  and  with  a  firm  expression  and  determined 
manner,  declared  that  if  he  touched  the  horse  "she  would 
split  his  head  with  the  hoe."  This  act  produced  the  desired 
effect — the  horse  remained  in  her  plough  and  was  never  mo- 
lested again. 

Mrs.  Forbis  lived  to  enjoy  the  independence  of  her  country 
many  years,  attaining  an  honorable  old  age,  noted  for  her 
cheerful  disposition  and  as  a  warm-hearted  Christian  char- 
acter. 

Of  Colonel  Forbis'  sister  and  near  neighbor,  Mrs.  Mary 
Morgan,  wife  of  Thomas  Morgan,  this  daring  feat  is  related : 

At  the  time  the  British  Army  was  encamped  on  the  south 
side  of  South  Buffalo  Creek,  the  same  side  on  which  Thomas 
Morgan  lived,  on  the  plantation  of  Ralph  Gorrell,  Esq.,  and 
from  this  camp  one  day  a  party  sallied  forth  bent  on  plunder, 
taking  in  Colonel  Paisley's  plantation  and  later  the  Morgan 
home,  in  the  absence  of  the  owner,  only  Mrs.  Morgan  and  her 
little  brood  being  present.  As  the  place  had  frequently 
experienced  visitations  of  marauding  soldiers  but  little  could 
be  found.  Still  they  ransacked  the  dwelling  from  cellar  to 
garret,  as  well  as  the  kitchen  and  smoke-house,  corn-crib  and 
barn,  leaving  naught  in  their  wake.  In  the  interval  Mrs. 
Morgan's  active  mind  was  at  work  and  the  thought  occurred 
to  her  to  retaliate  by  removing  the  valise  from  the  saddle  of 


OTHER    XORTH    CAROLINA    HEROINES  67 

the  commanding  officer  and  dropping  it  in  an  inside  corner 
of  the  fence  among  the  tall  weeds,  a  few  panels  below  the 
horse  from  which  it  was  taken.  As  they  prepared  to  leave 
the  sun  had  nearly  reached  the  horizon,  and  five  or  six  miles 
lay  between  them  and  their  camp,  there  was  considerable 
hurry  and  confusion  which  caused  the  officer  in  command  to 
overlook  the  loss  of  his  valise.  On  opening  it,  Mrs.  Morgan 
found  it  to  be  filled  with  fine  linen  shirts,  collars,  cravats,  and 
other  articles  which  in  value  far  exceeded  that  which  she  had 
lost. 

The  true  Irish  wit  displayed  by  Mrs.  Rachel  Denny  has 
amused  many  a  listener.  She  was  the  wife  of  Walter  Denny, 
a  strict  elderly  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian,  who  dwelt  far 
down  on  North  Buffalo  Creek,  as  staunch  in  his  Whig  princi- 
ples as  true  to  his  religious  faith  and  highly  esteemed  thru- 
out  the  neighborhood.  During  his  absence  from  home  when 
the  British  Army  was  near  by,  a  foraging  party  under  com- 
mand of  the  proper  officer  invaded  his  home,  pillaging  every 
repository  of  his  possession.  During  this  trying  ordeal  the 
old  lady,  his  wife,  sat  by  utterly  helpless  in  the  presence  of  the 
commanding  officer,  who  sat  near  amusing  himself  with  her. 
Thus  she  saw  flour,  meat  and  meal  as  well  as  blankets  she 
had  made  with  her  own  hands  seized  by  ruthless  hands.  The 
officer  began  by  asking  her  where  her  husband  was,  to  which 
she  replied  she  did  not  know.  If  she  did  know  would  she 
tell,  was  the  next  question.  Kindly  she  said  "No,  and  no 
gentleman  of  honorable  feelings  would  ever  ask  or  expect 
such  a  thing."  When  asked  if  she  was  not  afraid  that  he 
would  be  caught  and  hung  as  a  rebel,  she  replied,  "as  he  was 
engaged  in  a  good  cause,  he  was  in  good  hands,  and  she  hoped 
he  would  be  protected."  After  cursing  her  most  profanely 
he  informed  her  he  thought  "the  women  in  that  part  of  the 
country  as  damned  rebels  as  the  men,  and  that  one-half  of 
them,  at  least,  ought  to  be  shot  or  hung."  To  all  this  she 
did  not  reply. 

Spying  a  Bible  and  a  hymn-book  on  the  table,  he  exclaimed 


68  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

that  he  presumed  "the  old  man  prayed  every  day  in  his 
family."  To  this  Mrs.  Denny  added  that  when  at  home 
they  usually  had  family  prayers.  "Well,  does  he  ever  pray 
for  King  George  ?"  followed  in  a  sneering,  haughty  air.  She 
gave  an  indirect  answer.  He  then  told  her  emphatically  she 
must  tell  him  "He  must  pray  for  King  George."  Very  indif- 
ferently she  replied  that  perhaps  a  good  man  might  pray  for 
the  salvation  of  his  soul,  "not  for  the  success  of  his  arms ; 
for  he  had  sinned  so  long  and  so  much  that  there  was  very 
little  encouragement  to  pray  even  for  his  salvation.,  and  to 
pray  for  the  success  of  his  arms  when  they  were  employed  to 
oppress  and  to  enforce  obedience  to  unrighteous  authority, 
would  be  praying  in  direct  opposition  to  the  instructions  of 
the  Bible,  which  would  be  offensive  to  God  as  it  would  be 
useless  to  man."  Whereupon  the  officer  told  her  that  her 
husband  must  pray  for  the  king  or  be  treated  as  a  rebel. 
"Ah,  indeed,"  said  Mrs.  Denny,  "he  has  been  denounced  as 
a  rebel  long  ago,  and  no  thanks  to  you  nor  King  George  either 
that  he  still  lives  to  defend  his  country."  "Well,"  he  re- 
plied, "do  you  tell  him  that  he  must  pray  for  King  George 
tonight,  for  I  intend  to  come  or  send  men  to  ascertain,  and 
if  he  does  not,  I  will  have  him  taken  and  hung  up  to  the  limb 
of  that  oak  tree  in  the  yard."  "Aye,  fa'th,"  retorted  the 
brave  old  dame,  with  consummate  nonchalance,  "Aye,  fa'th, 
an'  monny  a  prayer  has  been  wasted  upon  King  George." 

The  young  Lieutenant,  baffled,  summoned  his  men  as  the 
sun  was  fast  sinking  in  the  west  and  quickly  galloped  back  to 
camp,  taking  with  them  considerable  plunder,  but  by  no 
means  all  of  Mr.  Denny's'  abundance. 

During  the  stormy  days  of  the  Revolution  the  women  were 
just  as  willing  as  the  men  to  suffer  and  share  privations  with 
them.  The  country  being  thinly  settled,  they  were  much 
isolated  and  had  to  face  innumerable  perils.  Frequently  the 
quick  wit  and  ready,  proper  word  of  some  intelligent  woman 
achieved  a  decided  triumph.  To  this  class  could  be  assigned 
Mrs.  Sarah  Logan,  noted  for  her  repartee,  excellent  sense  and 


OTHER    NORTH    CAROLINA    HEROINES  69 

kindness  of  heart,  and  who  was  universally  esteemed.  She 
was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  though  after  her  marriage 
she  lived  in  South  Carolina,  near  the  dividing  line.  Many 
incidents  occurred  that  testified  to  her  patriotism,  judgment, 
character  and  ready  wit.  This  one  related  here  in  particular 
is  illustrative  of  her  varied  experiences. 

One  morning  in  November  when  the  air  was  cold  and 
frosty  four  or  five  Tories  swooped  down  upon  her  home  in  the 
absence  of  her  husband.  They  were  known  to  her  by  sight 
and  name,  though  they  were  not  of  her  class.  She  spied 
them  as  soon  as  they  entered  the  lane  and  at  once  guessed 
their  purpose.  She  instantly  resolved  to  devise  some  scheme 
by  which  to  safeguard  her  property  against  their  pillage. 

They  rode  up  and  hitched  their  horses  to  the  fence  within 
a  few  feet  of  the  house  and  entered  without  ceremony.  Mrs. 
Logan  feigned  a  cordial  welcome  and  invited  them  to  be 
seated,  adding  that  such  cold  weather,  after  a  long  ride,  they 
must  be  cold  and  insisted  on  their  sitting  nearer  the  fire,  on 
which  she  had  more  wood  piled.  She  inquired  of  the  health 
of  their  families,  of  the  neighborhood ;  in  fact,  received  these 
avowed  enemies  bent  on  pillage  as  graciously  as  though  they 
were  friends.  She  apologized  for  the  upturned  state  of  her 
house,  claiming  that  her  duties  of  housecleaning  had  been 
neglected  for  a  sick  child  and  was  just  so  engaged  as  they 
approached,  that  if  they  would  excuse  her  giving  annoyance 
she  would  proceed  and  finish  in  two  or  three  minutes.  She 
swept  vigorously,  raising  a  cloud  of  dust.  She  next  began 
making  up  the  bed,  beating  the  feathers  and  seizing  sheets  and 
bedspread  and  blankets,  taking  each  at  a  time,  she  stood  on 
the  door-step  and  shook  them  violently,  making  a  great  noise 
and  flutter  as  each  spread  out  on  the  breeze.  The  horses 
became  alarmed,  one  broke  loose,  then  another,  until  all  sev- 
ered their  bridles  and  galloped  in  every  direction.  The 
Tories,  realizing  that  their  steeds  were  more  valuable  th<sn  any 
plunder  to  be  procured  at  the  Logans',  took  to  their  heels  in 
hot  pursuit,  catching,  as  they  bolted,  Mrs.  Logan's  regrets — 


70  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

"very  sorry" — "what  a  pity."  Thus  kindness  proved  of  more 
service  than  the  sword  or  a  sharp  retort. 

There  lived  in  Surry  County,  near  Mount  Airy,  during 
the  "Old  War"  (as  the  old  people  termed  the  Revolution) 
Mrs  Eliabeth  McGraw.  She  was  prior  to  her  marriage  to 
Jacob  McGraw  a  Miss  Waller,  daughter  of  George  Waller  of 
Henry  County,  Virginia.  Both  she  and  her  husband  were 
staunch  Whigs;  therefore  their  home  was  naturally  an  objec- 
tive point  with  the  bands  of  Tories  scouring  that  section. 
Still  an  account  of  one  raid  is  handed  down  in  that  locality. 
It  occurred  on  a  bitterly  cold  night  when  Jacob  McGraw 
was  away  from  home  and  his  wife  was  the  sole  white  person 
on  the  place.  When  she  ascertained  they  were  approaching 
she  made  all  the  negroes  who  could  leave  run  and  seek  some 
hiding  place,  and  in  the  meantime  she  engaged  busily  in 
wrapping  the  pickaninnies  in  the  tow  that  had  been  hackled 
from  flax  that  day,  dressed  and  secreted  them  in  a  closet,  just 
finishing  as  the  Tories  burst  into  the  house.  They  searched 
the  place  from  top  to  bottom,  but,  strange  to  say,  missed  locat- 
ing the  little  negroes  concealed  in  the  tow.  They  appro- 
priated all  valuables  and  lastly  took  from  the  cupboard  Mrs. 
McGraw's  shining  pewter  plates.  Thru  the  rims  of  each 
they  bored  holes  and  ran  a  hickory  withe  which  they  carried 
along  with  them.  Years  after  Mrs.  McGraw  had  the  pecu- 
liar experience  of  taking  dinner  at  a  neighbor's  when  the 
meal  was  served  from  her  own  pewter  plates  with  holes  in  the 
rims.  She  attained  a  great  age,  dying  near  Mount  Airy  in 
1836. 

Even  amid  the  horrors  of  war  people  can  and  do  relax 
from  their  responsibilities  and  sufferings  long  enough  to 
engage  in  diverting  festivities,  better  perhaps  for  the  change. 
During  Major  Craig's  occupancy  of  Wilmington  he  and  his 
officers  attended  many  balls  and  other  entertainments.  Tra- 
dition still  keeps  alive  in  New  Hanover  amusing  things  that 
took  place  at  these  social  affairs.  One  anecdote,  though  ludi- 
crous, that  has  not  been  lost,  concerned  Miss  Ann  Fergus,  a 


OTHER    NORTH    CAROLINA    HEROINES  Yl 

lass  of  a  wealthy  Scotch  family  of  fine  social  standing.  She 
possessed  a  superior  intellect,  was  well  educated.  Exceed- 
ingly tall — five  feet  ten  inches — but  when  wearing  the  high 
heel  slippers  of  that  period,  as  she  would  have  done  at  a  ball, 
she  must  have  measured  fully  six  feet.  One  of  her  brothers 
was  in  the  Patriot  Army,  possibly  also  a  lover.  One  evening- 
she  attended  a  ball  at  which  a  number  of  British  officers  were 
present.  Among  them  was  an  exceedingly  diminutive  man, 
full  of  conceit,  who  was  most  persistent  in  his  attentions  to 
the  American  ladies,  being  both  impertinent  and  presumptu- 
ous, as  his  conduct  to  Miss  Fergus  proved.  During  the  even- 
ing he  sought  her  out  and  asked  for  a  kiss.  With  all  serious- 
ness and  perhaps  hauteur  she  replied  "Yes,  he  might  have 
one,  if  he  could  take  one  without  getting  upon  a  stool." 
Whereupon  he  tiptoed  and  stretched  his  neck  and  she  drew 
herself  up  to  her  full  height,  and  he  "couldn't  come  it."  The 
whole  company  present  were  intensely  amused  at  so  ludicrous 
a  spectacle.  Ridicule  caused  his  instant  flight  as  well  as 
brought  to  an  end  his  attentions  to  American  belles. 

It  is  not  often  that  a  woman  possesses  such  spirit  of  daring 
and  bravery  that  she  is  willing  to  attack  an  enemy  of  the 
other  sex,  assuming  the  role  of  aggressor.  Of  such  type  was 
Mrs.  Margaret  (Gillespie)  Caruthers,  a  native  of  Lancaster 
County,  Pennsylvania,  who  settled  with  her  husband,  James 
Caruthers,  in  middle  North  Carolina  some  time  prior  to  the 
Revolution.  Her  family  included  four  sons  and  several 
daughters,  all  eventually  becoming  useful  citizens  and  church 
members.  Three  of  her  sons  served  in  the  Revolution.  The 
eldest,  Robert,  being  a  partisan  leader,  won  the  rank  of  cap- 
tain and  was  very  active,  being  almost  always  on  duty.  The 
youngest,  who  was  retained  at  home  to  protect  his  parents 
and  attend  to  the  farm,  met  death  at  the  hands  of  Tories  dis- 
guised as  Indians,  as  strong  circumstantial  evidence  proved. 
His  dead  body  was  found  by  a  creek  on  the  plantation  almost 
in  sight  of  the  house.  He  had  gone  to  a  neighbor's,  two  miles 
distant  on  an  errand.     The  report  of  a  gun  drew  his  mother 


72  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

and  sisters  to  the  spot  to  find,  him  dead;  scalped  with  a  bloody 
knife  bearing  the  name  of  a  neighbor,  lying  near  his  head. 
Ever  after  when  the  said  neighbor  met  a  member  of  the 
family  his  countenance  expressed  guilt  and  he  manifestly 
shunned  them.  Thus  deprived  of  her  main  support,  with  her 
husband,  not  infirm  but  passed  the  draftable  age,  compelled 
for  safety  to  conceal  himself,  she  found  herself  unprotected, 
especially  during  the  trying  year  of  1780.  Her  wonderful 
self-possession  never  failed  her  in  time  of  danger.  Her 
firmness  and  energy  of  character,  combined  with  the  "spirit 
of  '76,"  rendered  her  far  from  helpless  in  emergencies. 

Not  long  after  the  tragedy  just  recounted,  two  Tories, 
neighbors,  came  to  plunder  her  premises.  They  at  once  at- 
tempted to  steal  a  fine  young  black  mare,  of  unusual  beauty 
and  splendid  qualities,  which  they  brought  out  and  hitched  to 
a  shade  tree  on  the  west  side  of  the  house."  After  packing  up 
all  provisions,  blankets,  etc.,  to  be  found  in  the  house  they 
entered  the  corn-crib  to  fill  their  bags  with  corn.  The  quaint 
form  of  crib  of  that  day  had  an  opening  thru  which  a  man 
must  thrust  one  leg,  next  his  head  "and  with  his  body  laid 
beside  the  projecting  leg  force  himself  thru,  with  the  other 
leg  resting  on  the  floor,  and,  at  the  same  time,  as  it  was 
raised  a  foot  or  two  above  the  ground,  held  by  the  side  with 
the  left  hand  lest  when  the  center  of  gravity  passed  the  sill, 
he  might  go  faster  and  further  than  he  wanted."  The  thieves 
were  busy  over  their  grain  when  Mrs.  Caruthers  hid  the  black 
mare  in  the  cellar,  locking  the  door.  Then  she  took  a  stick 
of  hickory,  intended  for  an  axe-handle,  laid  by  to  season  in 
the  chimney  corner,  twice  the  size  of  a  dressed  article,  which 
she  concealed  under  her  apron  and  stood  at  the  corner  of  the 
crib.  As  each  appeared  she  beat  upon  him  so  successfully 
that  he  could  neither  defend  himself  nor  return  the  blows, 
and  both  fled  in  haste,  leaving  their  plunder  behind  and  never 
again  did  they  dare  to  enter  the  Caruthers  home. 

The  name  of  Betsy  Dowdy  is  universally  known  and  her 
bravery  can  never  be  forgotten,  while  the  name  of  Margaret 


OTHER    NORTH    CAROLINA    HEROINES  73 

McBride  is  familiar  to  comparatively  few  and  of  the  service 
rendered  her  country  little  is  known.  As  her  surname  im- 
plies she  was  of  a  Scotch-Irish  family.  Hanty  McBride,  a 
resident  of  Guilford,  was  a  man  of  good  standing  in  the  neigh- 
borhood where  he  lived  and  died,  some  seven  or  eight  miles 
south  of  Greensboro,  midway  between  Alamance  and  Buffalo 
creeks.  He  was  a  member  of  Dr.  Caldwell's  congregation, 
and  a  true  Whig.  Too  old  for  military  duty,  he  served  his 
country  when  possible.  His  large  family  was  comprised  of 
nearly  all  daughters.  Of  one  son,  Isaiah,  the  oldest,  we 
learn  that  he  was  in  several  campaigns. 

In  1781  Margaret,  or  Maggie,  as  her  family  and  neigh- 
bors called  her,  was  a  pretty  lass  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  sum- 
mers and  well  grown  for  her  years.  She  was  full  of  life,  but 
discreet  and  had  the  courage  to  express  her  convictions. 
With  winsome  ways  and  abounding  enthusiasm,  she  was  nat- 
urally a  favorite.  She  gloried  in  being  a  Whig  and  hated 
the  Tories.  A  certain  tract  of  land  four  or  five  miles  wide, 
ten  or  twelve  in  length,  between  North  and  South  Buffalo 
creeks,  lay  to  the  north  and  northwest  of  Hantz  McBride's. 
This  included  the  present  site  of  Greensboro  and  ran  along 
both  sides  of  the  Hillsboro  road  to  Buffalo  Bridge.  This  was 
not  inhabited  and  was  traversed  only  by  roads  connecting  the 
two  settlements.  As  pine  was  the  principal  growth  it  was 
called  the  "Pine  Woods,"  or  ''Pine  Barrens."  People  did 
not  settle  there  because  the  land  was  considered  too  thin.  It 
afforded  fine  pasturage  for  cattle.  At  intervals  rich  and  well- 
watered  glades  existed  like  oases  of  the  desert.  In  the  first 
days  of  autumn,  1781,  a  band  of  Tories  from  southern  Guil- 
ford or  northern  Randolph  pitched  camp  in  one  of  these  fairy 
dells.  The  Whigs  were  thick  on  the  outskirts  of  the  "Bar- 
rens" and  some  were  wavering.  These  the  Tories  in  question 
visited,  and  exerted  no  good  influence  over  them.  The  true  Pa- 
triots became  uneasy — something  must  be  done,  and  accord- 
ingly a  band  bent  on  retaliation  was  organized,  though  none 
knew  the  exact  location  of  the  camp.     It  was  thought  that  the 


74  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

McBrides  knew  of  it  if  any  one  did,  so  to  that  home  they 
repaired  one  evening  just  after  dark.  Hantz  McBride,  of 
course,  was  absent,  the  mother,  Maggie  and  other  children 
were  there.  The  captain,  after  ascertaining  they  were 
staunch  Whigs,  inquired  whether  there  was  a  Tory  camp  in 
the  "Piney  Woods."  She  understood  there  was.  When 
asked  for  directions  to  find  it,  she  answered  as  intelligently 
and  as  best  she  could,  little  Maggie  by  her  side  now  then 
adding  a  word  of  explanation.  The  captain  observed  her 
interest  and  said  courteously,  "Well,  now,  my  little  Miss, 
could  you  go  along  to  show  us  the  way  ?"  This  startled  her. 
Objections  she  urged — going  off  with  a  party  of  soldiers,  all 
strangers ;  then  the  fighting,  etc.  The  captain  insisted.  She 
reckoned  she  might  go;  they  must  promise  not  to  fire  on  the 
Tories  till  she  left  them.  They  consented,  so  she  mounted 
behind  the  commander  and  they  rode  off  at  full  speed.  It 
was  agreed  that  she  should  remain  with  the  band  until  they 
came  in  sight  of  the  place,  when  she  was  to  fly  back  home,  it 
being  impossible  for  her  to  be  taken  into  the  battle  in  the 
darkness.  She  was  firm  in  her  determination  to  render  this 
invaluable  service  to  the  Whigs,  and  never  faltered  when  so 
much  was  at  stake.  The  spot  was  familiar  to  her  as  she  had 
frequently  been  there  when  hunting  the  cows  on  summer 
evenings  with  the  other  children. 

As  they  approached  the  camp  near  enough  for  the  sound  of 
the  horses'  feet  to  be  heard,  they  proceeded  with  great  caution 
and  Margaret  McBride  was  straining  her  eyes  and  craning 
her  neck  to  ascertain  the  exact  spot.  Finally  she  exclaimed, 
"Yonder  they  are,"  and  sprang  from  the  captain's  horse, 
returning  home  with  the  agility  of  a  native  of  the  forest. 
As  soon  as  she  alighted  on  the  ground  the  party  dashed  for- 
ward at  a  gallop,  took  the  camp  by  surprise,  firing  a  good 
volley  as  a  greeting  on  approach.  Before  the  brave  little 
heroine  had  passed  over  much  ground,  she  heard  the  report 
of  twenty  or  thirty  pistols  and  the  clash  of  sabres,  with 
shouts  of  victory  and  cries  of  the  assailed,  all  of  which  made 


OTHER  NORTH  CAROLINA  HEROINES  75 

her  run  but  the  faster.  On  reaching  home  she  proudly  in- 
formed her  mother  that  "those  miserable  Tories  have  got  a 
lesson  tonight  which  they  will  not  soon  forget,  and  I  hope 
they  will  no  longer  be  a  pest  and  a  reproach  to  the  country." 
"Why,  my  daughter,"  replied  Mrs.  McBride,  "You  didn't 
stay  to  see  what  was  done  ?"  "Why,  mother,  as  soon  as  we 
came  in  sight,  I  jumped  clown  and  started  back  as  hard  as  I 
could,  but  I  had  come  a  very  little  distance — it  didn't  seem 
to  be  a  minute — till  I  heard  ever  so  many  guns,  and  then  such 
slashing  and  hallooing — you  never  heard  the  like.  I  just 
know  the  ugly  things  are  used  up,  and  we  shall  now  be  clear 
of  them.  Well,  I  do  feel  sorry  for  them  after  all — really 
sorry.  Just  think  how  they  will  be  cut  up  and  run  off  like  as 
many  sheep-killing  dogs ;  but  then  they  had  no  business  to  be 
Tories.  If  they  are  so  mean  and  pusillanimous  that  they 
want  to  be  slaves  or  foot-pads  to  King  George,  let  them  not 
stay  here  and  try  to  make  us  as  degraded  as  themselves,  but 
go  to  his  own  country  and  serve  him  there.  We  have  no  use 
for  them  here  and  I  am  so  glad  they  are  gone." 

The  Tory  den  was  completely  broken  up.  All  that  were 
not  killed  fled,  and  henceforth  the  "Pine  Barrens"  of  Guil- 
ford knew  neither  them  nor  their  like  again. 

When  Margaret  McBride  grew  to  womanhood  a  few  years 
later  she  married  and,  with  her  husband,  moved  westward 
with  the  tide  of  emigration  that  laid  the  foundation  of  some 
of  our  great  States  of  today,  and  nothing  was  known  of  this 
brave  heroine  of  old  Guilford. 

North  Carolina  can  well  be  proud  of  her  women  from  the 
earliest  days  when  the  hardships  and  perils  of  life  led  by  the 
first  settlers  in  the  wilderness  were  patiently  borne,  during 
the  stormy  times  of  the  Revolution,  of  the  War  between  the 
States  and,  lastly,  of  the  response  they  are  giving  to  the 
demands  of  this  present-day  world  conflict. 


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